(See the previous threads on Archives #4, Archives #3, Archives #2 and Archives #1 and feel free to add in your two cents on those stories. It's NEVER too late! )

For the next few weeks we'll be reading the stories from LSH Archives #5, with a discussion of a single new story every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.



Archives #5 covers Adventure #340-349 in consecutive order.

LOTS to look forward to including: Computo! A Legionnaire KILLS! Dream Girl returns! The Luck Lords! NARDO! Four Legionnaires join---and one's a TRAITOR! Dr. Regulus! UNIVERSO!

Plus: The end of the Hamilton era! The coming of SHOOTER! Curt Swan succeeds John Forte!


*gasp* This may be the greatest Archive yet! Let's find out for ourselves....

First up, Adventure Comics #340: "Computo the Conqueror!"



Note: We're skipping the Origin & Powers of the Legion feature that opens this Archives, as far as it getting its own slot, but feel free to discuss it if the mood strikes!

Lol, I can still see in my mind, the army of Computos, arms all waving about.

346 was my first issue but I went back and got these. I still didn't know the characters all that well and to me, Ferro Lad was the "first" to die so the death of Luorno (later found to be only one of the bodies) didn't really hit me but boy I remember that army of Computos. The other scene that stands in my mind is a battle with Colossal Boy. As I recall there was that usual art battle over how big to make him.

I think it's time to hit the garage and pull out some issues.

The Computo story was epic, but a bit disjointed. We have the scene where Colossal Boy pretends to be nuts and frees Star Boy and Sun Boy. I remember thinking, why only them? Were they afraid Computo would get suspicious if Gim kept going on and on? Then we have Bouncing Boy suddenly popping in; and Brainy creating a Bizarro Computo (and I had to echo Superboy's line here! Maybe Earth would have a better chance of survival if Brainy stopped thinking)! Really, how could creating a Bizarro anything help matters? Bizarro Computo was so absurd I couldn't help but laugh, but it was a really weird inclusion for a storyline which saw the apparent death of a Legionnaire.

Luornu's "death" was sad, but an astute reader would surely have noticed the other two Luornus getting away and known she wasn't completely dead. The trauma of losing one body is not touched upon here at all. A returning Chuck doesn't comment on it either (although with everything going on he wouldn't really have had time); sometimes I forget that the Lu-Chuck romance didn't start until after Chuck's return to active duty.

Tenzil shoots of his mouth to blame Brainy, and while I agree with Superboy stopping the argument(now isn't the time for infighting), Tenzil has a point. Brainy had good intentions and he was commissioned by the UP, but his actions indirectly caused several deaths - we have scenes where other scientists and even civilians are killed. That is something that should have been followed up on.

I did like the scenes of Legionnaires visiting Brainy; if I remember right this is the first time we've seen Brainy act all absorbed in his work and being snippy with his teammates.

My comics buying in the early years was somewhat sporadic, so I missed quite a few Adventure stories (including #340) the first time around. When I did finally get to read 340 a few years later I was struck by how inconsistent the general tone of this story was with the rest of the Hamilton run, particularly in terms of characterization. Hamilton's stories were always plot oriented; his characters tended to have bland, interchangeable personalities. Yet here we had Brainy being testy with his teammates (and a bit arrogant as well), Tenzil (and ever Superboy!) being sarcastic...all leading me to believe there was another hand at work on the dialogue of this story. Was Mort starting to feel the heat from Stan Lee at this point? Did he himself rewrite the dialogue to make it more "Marvel-like", or (more likely, knowing Mort) have his assistant E. Nelson Bridwell do it (uncredited of course)? All these years later I still wonder about that.

I actually pulled out this Archive in preparation to participate when I realized a lot of the stories in Archive 4 had slipped from my immediate memory. Then I had a good laugh. This archive IS one of the best. It's chock full of classic stories and I found I had plenty I could talk about already with each story. They're all so iconic!

This was a great issue for the team at large, I feel. Brainy being the cause of Computo set up some drama and allowed one of the more featured Legionnaires to be called out. Indeed, many of the heroes who remained captive were some of the bigger names. It was nice to see little scenes with characters like Star Boy and Element Lad at the start of this issue who often get lost in the crowd. Like Hermit cited, there's a lot more personality to our kids here. Whatever the cause, be it ghost writing or comfort at last with the characters, I welcome it.

The death of one of Triplicate Girl's bodies sure is noteworthy in Legion history and the main reason this tale has significance, maybe even more than the birth of Computo. The funny thing is though, knowing what we do about how creators at the time felt about Luornu, I don't know that this storybeat was engineered as character growth. She was often belittled for her power, so I can see them using her just as a plot device for another layer of drama until her obvious reveal later of survival. "Eh, she's got another body to spare."

Though Lu's inner turmoil and dialogue is something that doesn't get featured, I'd like to think her prolonged absence from reuniting with the team was to give herself time to cope. Knowing Lu in this situation, she had a flood of emotions and then put her game face on when she was ready. She's far too cheery to reintroduce herself as alive and Duo Damsel for my taste, even without knowing future reference material.

Great start to the Archive and, really, an era of historic Legion tales for various reasons.

Adventure #340

The fifth archive begins as Hamilton is winding down his Legion run, and within these final Hammy-scripted stories we find some of his very best Legion tales, and some of the best LSH stories in general. IMO that began with the last issue featuring Beast Boy, and that continues in major way with the Computo story.

The Computo story is pretty epic and it benefits in a major way from being a two-parter. Hamilton can both take his time and also add in all the elements needed.

So much of the story centers on Brainiac 5, who has clearly emerged as one of Hammy and Mort's favorites. His major error here is a natural progression of his personality thus far and adds some terrific pathos and humanity (through guilt) to Brainy.

Of course, one of the biggest takeaways is the loss of one of the Triplicate Girls, resulting in Duo Damsel. On the surface this is kind of a "half loss", not really being a true death. Thus, I much prefer the TMK idea of Luornu having three separate selves, and therefore this is indeed a true death; if you use the reboot blueprint of the three personalities on the preboot, this is likely the preboot Triad Orange dying. Many tragedies had fallen Legionnaires already and in this one, it adds a major layer to Triplicate Girl, who was the least developed of all the Legion girls (and possibly the whole Legion in general).

Computo himself is of the Legion's best villains. His Silver Age look isn't all that great but he's awesome in all other facets. He's only had a few appearances though it sometimes doesn't feel that way.

The story opens with a more casual "day in the life" feel that we're seeing more of now. And soon Brainy utters my favorite line of his of all time: "What is this...a private lab or Grand Central Spaceport?!!"

The initial interaction between Brainy and Computo is well done and very interesting. Hamilton does it in a way I haven't really seen before. Computo is clearly scary, and the readers can see that; yet Brainy doesn't quite see it right until Computo unleashes his army--he's cracking jokes and still fascinated by the science of it all. Yet with his tentacle arms swaying around and his clear inexhaustible desire for knowledge (which really means power), Computo is unnerving. And interesting interaction.

Ultra Boy and Superboy return from "a mission in the far future"; perhaps following the defeat of the Time Trapper, the LSH is visiting the future regularly?

Computo's plans are quite extensive! He's takes over their HQ and renders them all powerless. Meanwhile, Element Lad gives Superboy some serious lip!

Good ol' teamwork and ingenuity get them out of that, but its out of the frying pan and into the fire. And then the unthinkable: the death of Triplicate Girl! Computo beats the Legion and takes over Earth...and the issue ends! What a cliffhanger!

The Legion is perhaps in its most dire shape ever at the close of this issue. I note there was no part 1 / part 2 either--it was all one flowing, singular narrative that plows forward with quite a bit of force.

Can't wait for part 2!

Bits of Legionnaire Business Review: readers create Plant Lad and Shadow Kid!

Herm, I think you're theory has some real merit! Bridwell was just becoming a much bigger force within DC and we know that sort of thing happened all the time. It can never be proved but there is some circumstantial evidence to support it--this issue (and in a few instances the last few issues) mark a shift in dialogue that adds additional tension and depth through more complex personalities.

Future, I'm thrilled to have you back reviewing! Great point on Imra, Dirk and other "stars" being captured while some more second-tier Legionnaires can shine.

BB, I def hope you dig up those longboxes for a reread. I also enjoy your anecdotes about the first time you bought and read these stories.

Perhaps they were looking for evidence proving that Dynamo Boy was the Time Trapper!

A quick correction to some of the posts above: If "Computo" seems odd for an Edmond Hamilton story, that's because he didn't write it, at least according to Showcase Presents. Jerry Siegel did.

Adv. 340

This story marks a dramatic departure from previous Legion stories. Some aspects of this departure are welcome and overdue. Others are jarring.

The story is truly epic in many ways. In a single issue, Brainiac 5 is transformed into a tragic hero—one with great power but brought down by a terrible flaw: He is simply in love with his own creation. Look how servile he acts toward Computo, putting up with rude behavior and commands, and even letting his creation tell him what to do. Brainy, in effect, becomes a parent who has transferred the role of parent onto the child. The result is one hell of a spoiled brat.

The plot is exceptionally well developed. We watch Brainy turn aside his Legion friends, we watch him become emotionally captive to Computo, and then, finally, he becomes a physical captive, as well. Greedy for knowledge, Computo extracts all the knowledge from his creator’s brain and then creates an army to seek out other brilliant scientists and steal their knowledge. When anyone defies him or doubts his ruthlessness, Computo kills them.

The power and efficiency of Computo plays upon the fears many people had then and have now about technology—and these fears are very effective as story-telling devices. (Though Computo and his “computeroid” army are laughably out of date in the 21st century.) Not only are machines ruthless, but they are smarter than we are: Computo cleverly lures the Legionnaires into a trap, captures several members, and order the three mightiest to leave earth. What a rollercoaster ride!

As effective as the plot is, the dialogue threw me out of the story in several places. The theory that Bridwell or someone else scripted this story seems sound, as much of the dialogue is too hip for anything Siegel (or Hamilton, for that matter) had attempted before. Where the dialogue really grates is after Brainy has been captured. He doesn’t seem to be taking this whole thing too seriously. Instead, he thinks, “When I create a Frankenstein monster, it’s a beaut!” and “I feel so low I could walk under a snake’s belly wearing a high hat!” This does indeed sound like Stan Lee hipsterism.

There are a few plot missteps, as well. Brainy waits how long to remember he can signal the Legion? Did Computo siphon off 11 and a half levels of his intelligence? Also, the digression to Tombor is fascinating but misplaced. It and other glimpses into the Legionnaires' missions slow down the story when it should be speeding up.

Then there’s the most famous scene in this story, the death of Triplicate Girl. It would have been more effective if the escape of the other two Luornus wasn’t shown (or, perhaps, was left ambiguous). Here, I felt, Mort and company truly did not trust their audience or did not want to alarm them. Yet it truly is a shocking scene, so perhaps a bit of extra caution was warranted.

Plotwise, “Computo the Conqueror” is excellent—not perfect, but close to it. Scriptwise, it's a mixed bag of tragic hero motifs and too-cool-for-it's-own-good dialogue.

The Archive lists Siegel as scripter as well. Interestingly, Part Two/Adv. # 341's "Weirdo Legionnaire" is credited to "Jerry Siegel or Edmund Hamilton"! That's exactly what it says! Must be a story behind that...

Probably "bad record-keeping".

Does it have Edmond's name misspelled, as well? That is indeed odd.

Both Showcase Presents and the Legion Handbook list Siegel as the author of 341.

...er...no. That one's on me.



Perhaps, they've since clarified it? Showcase, at least, was printed long after Archives 5. In any case it makes more sense that Siegel completed his own cliffhanger. Lots of exceptions in comics, though.

The painful 1960s hipster lingo aside, this story really did establish Brainiac 5's character for decades to come. Intent, oblivious, quick-tempered when interrupted, grandiose visions of benign inventions. Unlike the last panel in the most recent Legion issue ("It's all my fault" he declares to his team mates), this Brainy is blaming his invention, not himself ("That boiler-factory Benedict Arnold"), although he does initially take credit when talking to himself.

From Waid's intro to volume 5:

"Computo's two-issue debut...also protrayed resident omniversal genius Brainiac 5, for the first time but not the last, as a scientist often unable to see past the end of his emeral nose; a "twelth-level intelligence" (whatever that meant) focused exclusively on results...without regard to whatever chaotic fallout might accompany those results."

This story was purblished in 1966, two years before Arthur C. Clarke's HAL would revolt in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Were computers gone wild a common theme back then, or was this the beginning of concern with A.I.?

When we talk about deaths in the Legion, we forget about the bystanders (at least, I do) such as the Android Master.

Nice to see Star Boy save Superboy with basic ingenuity!

I don't understand why Luornu said that splitting into three would help her make a fast getaway. Diversion? Was she preparing to sacrifice one body to let the other two escape? It could have been interesting if there were some twist that her natural abilities (running, hitting, jumping, whatever ) increased when she split.

The Hermit mentioned the Stan Lee influence. I thought that the final text ("Have we flipped and have we actually allowed a nutty computer army to triumph over the gallant, but beaten, Legion?") sounded very Marvel-like.

I think my confusion lies in the DC Database website crediting Siegel for part 1 and Hamilton for part 2. Usually they're spot on (I'll post links later when I'm not on my phone).

It certainly doesn't feel like any other Siegel stories we've seen before. But as others have mentioned, a whole lot doesn't feel like Hamilton either.

That makes me think its Bridwell more than ever. Or at least scripting a story Swan drew based off Hamilton or Seigel's plot. Or both? Usually when a story is a mish mash of creators, it turns into an "all hands on deck" approach (see: a helluva lot of 70's Marvel).

If any of that is true, it's amazing that this turned out to be a great story!

I thought at first that all she needed was for one body to escape, then she could reintegrate across a distance. Then I remembered that:

1) I don't remember Preboot Luornu being able to do that;
2) Postboot Triad could, but she could only reintegrate back into her "Neutral" body (so for this to work, the Neutral body would have been the one which needed to escape)
3) If so, her plan should have been to have her other two bodies create a diversion!

I like the idea of her having triple the physical abilities of a "normal" girl while split, but would it make more sense for her to have triple those abilities while integrated? She could still use her triplicating abilities in tandem with her power-ups while integrated to totally floor an opponent by triplicating and then reintegrating quickly in battle.

The ability to create or absorb duplicates at some range would be kind of cool. In an RPG, one of the players had a duplication power and could create / absorb her dupes at about a 15 yard range, and she would occasionally use it as a form of teleportation, making someone appear 15 yards away, and then having that duplicate absorb her original body, etc. allowing her to cross chasms, climb ladders super-fast by just bamfing up stairs, etc.

As an aside, looking at the cover of the Archives I suddenly realize that it was Princess Projectra, Dream Girl and Shadow Lass who were the first female Legionnaires to show that much skin! And although Dream Girl appeared early, she didn't join permanently in her first appearance.

Before them, the female Legionnaires (Saturn Girl, Phantom Girl, Triplicate Girl, Shrinking Violet, Light Lass, Supergirl) all showed quite a bit of leg (except for Tinya with her pants), but we didn't have any sleeveless costumes.

More circumstantial evidence for Bridwell ghost writing dialogue for the Computo story: before coming to work for Mort, Nelson was writing for Mad magazine, where he coined the phase "What you mean 'we', white man?" The tone sure sounds the same to me.

I can't imagine any 60s Mort Weisinger edited title being scripted after the art was done. I'd say that it's more likely that the combined Siegel/Hamilton 2-parter didn't mesh well and that Bridwell was called in to clean up the dialog.

You know, as much as Lu's triplicating power and it's implications were explored so coolly (in the reboot especially), it's clear now to me, from these discussions, that her true potential has still been largely untapped! Making her 'Duplicate Damsel' appears more and more to have been a cop-out, so lazy writers don't have to think about her too much and explore her awesome potential.

Had collected back further than I recalled: ADV 293 and I had the Superman with LSV. Heh,

anyhow

I think I get a bit defensive, reading comments like hippy language or simple exposition or dated depictions. So I spent some time meta-cogitating, wondering why do I think this way? These stories are not my work.

I like a 57 Chevy. It's not exactly the fastest. Most definitely not the smoothest. Stinky radio. But, it's classic. It has a huge fan base.


Do I want a Michael Bay Computo? Did any of the other Computos scare me more than these?

No!

I want MY Computo bubble-headed boxey with waving tentacles and a nice green paint job.

All these plot holes, still meta-cogitating, created US! They created the fan base that created the APA's and blogs and posts analyzing and stories filling in plot holes and the stories mentioned but not told (power guys return from mission in the future). Would these have happened if stories had been written as they are today, stretched out over years, every detail exposed? Would WE have happened?

I sincerely remember Trip G dieing! Not a body. Her! Why? Right there on the page 16 ( I LOVE page numbers) panel 3, two of her are running away. Why did I believe that heartless-souless (hippy) monster ~choke~ killed her?


I believed she had been killed because I had in panel 4 been told she had been killed. Even if I did happen to see the other two bodies running away, hidden in plain site while my eyes were focused on the one in the tentacles, in panel 3. I was 8 years old and panel 3 was a LONG time ago.

This was wonderful! Levitz was terrific at this, hiding important plot points in plain site. Was it luck in this case? Calculated. Instinctual writing? Poor reading skills? It would be 30 years before I would be clued in on the joke behind Planet Bismoll so I don't feel bad that I thought Trip had been killed in panel 4, regardless what panel 3 clearly shows. It was brilliant!

That said, I do rather prefer modern shocks and a nice new stereo in a 57 Chevy! I think it would be fun to see this story re-dialogued and re-paced so I will guard myself against getting defensive when reading the opinions BUT!

LEAVE MY COMPUTO BE!


ps: these books smell GOOD!

Good points, BB.

I hasten to add, though, that critically analyzing a story takes nothing away from its value. If it's true that these stories created US, then they also created us to be discerning readers.

Sadly, I don't remember Lu ever able to CREATE a duplicate far away. That would be a great augmentation to her power, and combined with her trijitsu skills would make her a very formidable opponent.

Besides, criticizing a story does not necessary detract from one's enjoyment of it. I still do enjoy rereading the COMPUTO story despite how baffled I am at some of the developments.

Adventure #341

A great Colossal Boy cover, and more historically important: the first go-go checks cover!

In my review of the last issue I said the Computo story is pretty epic and it benefits in a major way from being a two-parter. Hamilton / Siegel can both take his time and also add in all the elements needed. In this issue we see just about the whole Legion playing a part as things become more and more dyer, and then even some of their allies and friends show immense bravery when they try to help out (and for some of them, it's some of their best scenes ever, like Proty and Chuck).

But first, whats left of the Legion reacts to the loss of Triplicate Girl and its for this reason I'm thankful this is a 2-parter where we can get that scene. Tenz blames Brainy, and Superboy sticks up for Brainy--after all, now isn't the time to fix the blame, it's time to fix the problem! They give a brief funeral to Luornu, and we get to see Shanghalla for the first time, complete with one of the best panels of the Silver Age which introduces Leeta87, Hateface and all the rest. There's also a great nod to continuity by including Beast Boy.

Btw, I suspect Nimbok of Vaalor's betrayal by a sorcerer somehow ties into Mordru!

Luornu sucks it up, declares herself Duo Damsel and rejoins the fight. Unfortunately for her, she's got 30 years of writers finding her useless still to overcome.

The Weirdo Legionnaire strikes! And he does look quite weird!

After a surprising mini escape, the Legion hides out in the old Batcave of all places. I've always liked this idea a lot, and these panels are chalk full of awesomeness.

With Saturn Girl in peril, it's ironic that Brainy is the one bent on saving her, considering their recent history. Yet his plan...isn't the greatest. Bizarro-Computo?! After a page of slapstick, the real Computo annihilates it!

Enter: Chuck Taine, who as usual shows incredible heroism in trying to save Imra.

Brainy comes up with another plan, and this one also feels like yet another Bizarro-Computo / "Another Omega" type solution. This time though, it works, though it almost backfires. Brainy turns it around though in a way that makes me feel like Hamilton needed another page for the story.

The action ending is satisfying but the last page feels forced--Hamilton needed more space if he was going to show the after effects. He could have done without the Superboy returning to the 20th Century panel.

All in all, this was an epic, awesome yarn!

Bonus House Ad Review: one of my favorite B&B covers, #64, featuring Batman & Eclipso!

Bonus Lettercol Review: Crystal Kid is suggested, and so is "Chemical Kid" though the powers are way off of our pal Condo.

Some random thoughts on Adventure 341.

First issue with Go-Go checks on the cover!
Curt Swan art on both the cover and the story itself!

"C'mon Fellas" Did anyone really talk like that in 1966? Then again, Superboy was, at that time, supposed to be from about 1951. Maybe people did talk like that in 1951.

Tenzil has a big mouth? I never would have guessed.

Ahh, our first look at Shanghalla. Interesting how half the heroes there are shown in the process of dying. I guess Leeta 87 didn't have any surviving family members to insist on a less embarrassing graphic for her memorial. At least Beast Boy got a cool hologram.

La la la, one of my bodies just died. No big deal. (This has got to be one of the weakest scenes in Legion history.)

The Weirdo Legionnaire to the rescue...gotta love it. But I have a question. If Superboy is supplying a voice for Proty II using super-ventriloquism, that means he is the one making Proty say "I still won't win any beauty contests unless I change myself to look like a pretty girl". I wonder if Clark secretly has Krypto making off the cuff remarks to random passersby back in Smallville as well.

I wonder how Dirk knew where the Batcave was. Has he been using it as his own private make out spot all this time?

Bonus: an ad for a Batman/Eclipso meeting in Brave and Bold #64 (one of the better pre-Adams B&Bs, I might add). Also a 2/3 page Super Turtle strip. One of the least commented on, yet defining characteristics of Silver Age DCs was those Henry Boltinoff one-pagers. Great stuff. Ohh, and here's an add announcing the coming of "Go-Go" checks. Hmm, is my copy a second printing then?
Anyway, back to the story...but wait, here is a public service ad for tolerance of people with "something wrong" with them. Hey, I'm not kidding. It's a little one page mini drama about kids teasing another kid for making a strange drawing. Really.

Speaking of strange drawings, we have the spectacular debut of...Bizarro Computo! And here's a footnote from Mort (or maybe Nelson) telling us that this thing in Brainy's hands is the same machine that created a Bizarro-Batman in the March issue of World's Finest. It must have been made of some pretty durable materials to survive a thousand years in a cave full of bats.

Bouncing Boy to the rescue...more evidence that Bridwell had a hand in this one, IMO, although I suppose it could have just as easily been Mort throwing a bone to the "bring back Bouncing Boy" crowd.

"Anti-matter force thing"

Page 15. The big three to the rescue! Is this the first non-splash full pager in a Legion book?

"Rewiring AF 21 coricle into a dyno-dubal-2 outlet did the trick" I'll have to remember that next time I have to deal with an anti-matter force thing.

Gotta love Imra's smirk as she watches Brainy try to be all bossy. Nobody does bossy better than Imra, and she knows it!

An ad for the "New" Wonder Woman, which was really a temporary return to the character's golden age roots, as I recall. And no "Go-Go" checks on the cover of the pictured comic (WW #160). Now I'm sure my copy of Adv 341 is at least a second printing

Bonus question: if Superboy's Smallville adventures are supposed to be taking place about 15 years prior to the publishing date (1966), and if the backup story is a "hall of fame classic" (reprint), why does the car on the splash page and elsewhere look like a '56 DeSoto? At least the plane is a prop job.

I'm still looking for a pair of those X-ray specs on the inside front cover, btw. But I refuse to pay more than the advertised price (plus shipping).

Cobe, we must have been writing our posts at the same time, since yours wasn't up when I started typing (reality kept interrupting me). You caught some good stuff that I missed, too.



I like this.




Well, not quite 30, as first the SW6 series and then the reboot did a good job with her.



I meant to comment on that and it totally slipped my mind (too busy trying to be clever about the X-ray specs, I guess).

Herm, lots of good insight! Love that we both noticed the go-go checks and the B&B cover.

Regarding Luornu, there pretty much what I meant--it was TMK's Legionnaires series, and then the reboot that finally made her ready heights of awesome she always deserved.

IIRC, the shift in Wonder Woman really was a return to her Golden Age roots--because the series actually stars the WW of Earth-2! Only Kanigher would pull something like that, totally ditching the series and starting over. It happened to Wonder Woman all the time, unfortunately.

Also, love the idea of the Batcave becoming Dirk's bachelor pad / seduction palace!

BB, I'm with you on loving the stories for what they are. I do too--for the most part I've enjoyed just about every single issue I've read immensely. Only about 2 or 3 of them were busts for me.

Also, I'm with you on how great they smell. I love that! It's one of my favorite parts of reading old comics.

I try to remember them as I read them. I find memories come back. Feelings come back. Some of these stories and methods of writing are brilliant but I'm almost sure that without those memories, I probably wouldn't appreciate the vast majority of these stories.

Some of us read them for the first time when we were 8, some of us were teens, even in the twenties and later. Some take different approaches to their reads and rereads.

Some review them as if they are reading them for the first time. Some review them with all their mature abilities intact.

As a result of my metagogitating, I realized I was getting "defensive" because my original perceptions and love for the stories, all developed as an 8 year old, were being challenged (you bullies, picking on an 8 year old. )

So, now that I realize why I was becoming defensive, I can enjoy the reviews more for what they are, mature perspectives of books written for 60s era kids and opinions on how each individual might re-write them to make them more.

Yes, as a result of my metacogitating I too realize that I've been re-reading them not as if I am reading them for the first time but as I actually read them the first time, when I was 8. I find memories come back. Feelings come back. Some of these stories and methods of writing are brilliant but I'm almost sure that without those memories, I probably wouldn't appreciate the vast majority of these stories.

After thinking about it I realize that only some like me, first read them when we were 8. Some of us were teens, even in the twenties and later. We all have different memories of how well the stories were written and drawn because of those age differences and different reading habits and skills. We take different approaches to both our reads and our rereads.

Some review them as if they are reading them for the first time. Some review them with all their mature abilities intact.

As a result of my metagogitating, I realized I was getting "defensive" because my original perceptions and love for the stories, all developed as an 8 year old, were being challenged (you bullies, picking on an 8 year old. wink )

So, now that I realize why I was becoming defensive, I can enjoy the reviews more for what they are, mature perspectives of books written for 60s era kids and also opinions on how each individual might re-write them to make them more.

I've read most of these stories several times, first as a kid and then as a 20-something scrounging up back issues wherever I could find them (not an easy task in the pre-CBS days). A few years back I tried an experiment, reading through all of one particular character's appearances and skipping the rest, repeating the process for several Legionnaires before something shiny got my attention

This time through I'm just sorta scanning the books and (sometimes) commenting on whatever happens to catch my eye.

Meanwhile, here it is Wednesday evening and only two people have commented on the second half of the first Computo story! What's with that?

Reading it tonight or tomorrow.

Hm. I'll go against the grain somewhat and say that Part 2 fumbled Part 1's set-up in one aspect that I can't let go. While I liked the bits with Trip's memorial, Shanghalla, Proty and Chuck, I was pretty unimpressed by the method of Computo's defeat. While I generally like the first few attempts to defeat a villain to fail and be things to learn from, this story just makes Brainy seem foolish. Brainy is not only supposed to be the smartest Legionnaire but also one of the most intelligent beings in existence, and his first attempt is a Bizarro Computo?!? And his second, somehow ultimately successful, attempt potentially endangers Earth even more than Computo?!?!

I know some will justify these missteps as happening because Brainy is guilt-ridden over what his creation has wrought, but I don't buy it. Whoever wrote this story made Brainy look really bad. Reckless and, worse, stupid! I'm not saying that Brainy should never make mistakes, but he should never look stupid. Really, with all the dire peril Brainy put the world in with Computo and the anti-matter, it's a wonder he didn't get expelled! The very next story features a Legionnaire getting expelled for much less, imo, so why would Brainy not suffer at least as much or even be brought up on criminal charges?

Utimately, though, my beef isn't with Brainy--it's with the writer(s) who did no favors to his character by writing him so poorly. At the very least, Brainy should have learned from his mistakes, but later writers used this story as a precedent and have him make similar egregious mistakes in the future.

Again, I'm not saying Brainy should be a character without flaws. I love the character and how his emotions sometimes cloud his better judgment. But one thing Brainy should never be....is stupid!

To echo Superboy's line, maybe the world would be better off if Brainy didn't think!

What makes it worse is that when he expelled Star Boy (and I place much of the blame on Brainy who acted as prosecutor), he proved that Star Boy could have stopped Kenz Nuhor without killing him. HELLO! Star Boy was in danger then, it's not like he had all the time in the world to run through all possible scenarios. Unlike YOU, Mr. Big Brain. So what Lardy said, shame on the writers.

Also, why would Brainy release that anti-matter thingie without having a backup plan in mind for stopping it? Was his thinking coulded by his emotions?

This second part does seem to be more written for kids, with the Weirdo Legionnaire, Bizarro Computo, the Batcave and lots of running off madly in all directions.

As an 8 year old, I would have loved that stuff - so it probably accomplished its main purpose, to entertain. There were some good lessons, too: don't accept defeat, keep trying, be brave and try to save your friends. And get out your dictionary, or ask your Mum about words like "palaver".

That must be the first splash page in Legion comics, the Computo army getting annihilated by the anti-matter blast.

Brainy was acting stupidly, or (more kindly) panic clouded his judgment. Also, he's openly admitting that things are out of control. In later stories, he will cover up such situations with a sneer, a "you can't understand" or some other diversion. That may have been his take-away from the Computo disaster.

Lu's return was rather cavalier. Her character could have taken a different turn from here with writers who liked her. Relieved to have at least survived with two bodies, she changes her outlook. Gets some bad-ass martial arts training, has an affair with Superboy which she ends, finds true love with Chuck Taine, gets the Constitution changed so she can remain as a married Legionnaire, has a great Legion career.

I had the EXACT same thought when re-reading but curiously it was not one of the scenes I recalled.

Weirdo Legionnaire was an image I recalled and the other image I recall having had quite an affect on me wasn't even part of the story. It was the public service ad, "The Invisible Handicap." That had been, and honestly I clearly recall this, an "oh wow" moment for me. It explained things to me about kids at school and my across the hall neighbor. How many people were positively influenced by these books! I know these got me interested in reading. Now that I think about it, it was third grade (8 years old) that I started going to the library reading every early American hero (Kit Carson, Calamity Jane...) biography I could find and getting an award at school for those reports. Comic book reports weren't allowed. Shame that, but it did get me to the library.

Interesting. Self-interesting anyhow.

So: the story. I agree totally with Paladin. The writers painted themselves into a corner didn't they? Too tough a villain. What the heck was Batman doing with that contraption? The villain was so tough, Legion couldn't beat Computo strength against strength.

As corny as the characters were, I think the writers were on better track with Weirdo and Bizarro and even Colossol Boy. The only clever way to defeat it was using its strengths (knowledge absorbed) and weaknesses (ego) against itself. IMO, these characters legitimately countered.


"Cavalier" seems the perfect description. At least the others actually mourned, as opposed to what has been depicted so many other times someone important died in battle. This sub-plot led to an impressive list of consequences, not only of Lu's future but of the many posts and fics based upon those Shanghalla characters. Much would have been lost if she actually had been annihilated.

That is a terrific splash page!

I wonder if the resolution to the story (which you'll note a earlier compare to "Another Omega") has to do with the clear confusion of who wrote the thing? There's no reason to make excuses but its interesting to consider what was going on at DC at the time.

Jerry Seigel was leaving the company again, and not on great terms. He'd once again be battling DC in the courts. This, if he was involved, would be his last Legion story. Certain elements are pure Siegel as well: the Bizarro bit (by 1965, he was the only one doing Bizarro stories), the Weirdo Legionnaire, etc.

At the same time, Ed Hamilton was winding down his long tenure at DC. He still had a few more months to go but it may have factored in. Certain elements here are pure Hammy: focus on Brainy, early focus on the Computo plot set up over the Legionnaires themselves.

I wonder who wrote which part, or both? And did Bridwell need to get called in to tweak the dialogue? Did Siegel only have a half-script for part two, which Hamilton had to finish at the last minute, while also backed into a corner? Then Bridwell stepped in?

I really wish we could find out but I don't it. Is Bridwell still alive? Lets pester him!

Bridwell died in 1987, according to the Legion Companion. I checked those early interviews to see if anyone said they worked on the Computo story, but no mention of it.

Bridwell wrote for Mad Magazine and some of the dialogue in this story has a Mad flavour to it, so maybe he had a hand in the writing.

Peeked at the next issue. Talk about your contemporary corollaries and other alliterations! AND! Superboy passes gas: saves the day.

I guess a séance would be the only way to find out, then.

My guess is that Cobie's above theory might be fairly close to the truth. There may have been a Siegel plot/script or partial-plot/script for 341 that Hamilton and/or Bridwell had to finish. In any case the "hipster" dialogue is more restrained here than it was in 340. Maybe 340 was all Siegel after all with Jerry trying to be more "relevant"?

All I can ever summon in seances is the ghost of Nixon.

Adv. 341

In spite of the several flaws mentioned above, the resolution of the Computo story is highly entertaining. It reminds me "The Man from UNCLE" and other '60s spoof-dramas: Horrible things happen, but there's no reason we can't have fun while we're trying to save the world.

A large contributor to the fun, I think, is Curt Swan. There's no denying that his art is good to look at: elegant, imaginative, and kinetic. Look at how graceful Ultra Boy flies (in the full page spread on p. 15) or the different facial expressions of grief for Superboy, Mon-El and Light Lass (page 3). Look at the mushroom-shaped cutout of the building frame the Legionnaires hide behind on page 14. This is a 30th century that actually still looks futuristic. Or course, the two most important panels--on Shanghalla and the full-page spread--have already been mentioned.

Others have also commented on the story's various strengths, including the two-part structure, the character bits, Lu's funeral and triumphant return, and Chuck's heroic cameo. All of these things left an indelible impression on me as a young child, and it's good to see they still hold up on re-read. I might be letting my own memories influence my reaction to the story a bit, but even the Weirdo Legionnaire scene is both fun and serves a purpose (though Star Boy and Sun Boy don't really do anything after being rescued; any Legionnaire could have known the location of the Batcave).

I agree with Paladin that Brainy looks stupid. However, his decision to create a Bizarro Computo makes slightly more sense after reading # 329. The Bizarro Legion did give the Legionnaires a run for their money and create a lot of havoc, so, lacking many other options, Brainy may have thought a Bizarro Computo too much for the thoroughly logical real thing to handle.

I'm on the fence about Brainy using slang, however. In some ways, it doesn't fit his personality--at least as we've come to know him over the last five decades. But it's useful for me to remember he was still a teen at this point and still trying to fit in with other teenagers as well as being a super-hero. So, I can forgive him for the "clean up the computer army" faux pas. Besides, this careless use of language created the most hilarious scene in the comic--at least my nine-year-old self thought so.

Superboy knowing hip lingo seems somewhat less easy to justify. As others have pointed out, he's from about 1951 at the time of this story, so he should not be well versed in the slang used by the Weirdo Legionnaire.

The biggest failing for me is the rushed ending. I agree that the panel of Superboy returning to his own time was unnecessary--we were told several pages earlier that he forgets everything he learns about his future when returns to the past. And the last panel is anti-climactic. The Legionnaires have just gone through a hell created by one of their own and all they have show for it is a knowing smile? This abrupt ending left me wondering what had happened even when I was nine.

It's a thought balloon.







Ah, that's what's missing from my Showcase Presents reprint. The asterisk is there, but not the footnote.

The reprint in LSH, v. 1, # 4 omits both the asterisk and the footnote. However, part of the panel had to be redrawn to replace the missing footnote: Superboy was given a hand in Showcase Presents, but not in v. 1; his cape hangs differently in both reprints.

What bothers me about that scene is that, at the bottom of Page 16, Brainy is saying "We're doomed!" One panel later, he's figured it all out. Brainy: the manic-depressive drama queen!

Maybe Brainy just wanted some attention.

That's a very good point, it would make more sense to find something like that in the Fortress of Solitude. Also why would Batman have a Bizarro duplicator ray?

In the original it's clearly a word balloon.

Gotta hurry up and get ready for work this morning, so just a quick note on #342.

As a 7th-grader in early 1966 the hot topic among me and my friends was hair length on boys. Long hair was cool, crew-cuts were out. So when Star Boy got expelled I figured it was mainly for being so dorky looking.

Just a matter of perspective, I guess.

Adventure #342

The series continues to go from strength to strength as we move from Computo strait to the trial of Star Boy in the awesomely titled "The Legionnaire Who Killed!".

It's difficult to add to what's already been said in my 14 years of online LSH discussions as we've spoken about this story at length before. It centers on some heavy issues, such as killing in the line of duty, and how a member would be tried and expelled.

I, for one, say good riddance to Kenz Nuhor and don't blame Thom at all. I'm in total agreement with Supes / Mon / Jo in that weaker members need to defend themselves (which is an amazing sequence that I'll add more on shortly). If I was a Legionnaire, I'd probably have wracked up dozens of kills by my second year. Probably why I shouldn't have super-shrinking or super-matter-eating abilities.

The other piece of the story is that it's absolutely fascinating to see the administrative and official policy side of an organization like the Legion. Brainy as the prosecutor takes his job a bit too far, perhaps (and of course he would--he's Brainy) but its still interesting as hell to see a prosecution, defense and decision-rendering.

It's quite tragic Thom is expelled and I'm really interested in how readers must have felt. It's absolutely unprecedented in comic book history, and even all these decades later there have been few instances of such a thing. I do love the fact that for a brief time, Thom and Nura served side by side with the Subs, though. It's a rarely mentioned aspect of LSH continuity.

Nura returns this issue and one might say here is where she gets some much needed humanity (though as usual, it's subtle and underplayed). We've seen firsthand someone ask about her in the Lettercols about every three issues or so (just like Lone Wolf).

The issue starts by introducing some oft-used fun concepts on LW: the Shurg, Spaceopoly and the computer that determines who'd have the most fun kissing who. It's great to see the Legion cutting loose and having fun! We also first get introduced to the Mission Monitor Board in the first panel.

Btw, we see Ayla being kissed by Cham! Which is ironic since DC wouldn't even have a black superhero, let alone a black man kissing a white woman (because of fears of new stands in the South, or so the story goes, though I suspect there's more to it than that).

We get to see two more rejects (and the last for quite awhile I believe): Calamity King and Color Kid! The latter will have his big moment in just a few issues. The former was one I totally forgot about for years until a certain groovy poster turned an obscure character into one of the coolest parts of LSH lore!

There's something so wholesome about Thom visiting his parents.

Kenz Nuhor follows Star Boy and murders someone in cold blood! Hell, I'd have acquitted Thom if he tortured Nuhor to death. Eff that--that bastard deserves to die!

The silent, no-dialogue panel where Thom kills Nuhor is brilliant and incredibly effective. HWW mentioned a few pages back that they were starting to experiment with these and this shows why that was a good idea.

Nura and Thom's reunion is grim yet Nura shows her dedication to Thom. And in one panel she wears a cape and looks quite chic!

Though Thom is cleared by the SPs, the LSH have their own rules. Here, we see Brainy take on his overzealous role as prosecutor while Superboy earns my affection for his eagerness to defend Thom. This moment here solidifies why Superboy was such a great Legionnaire. We also see Imra take on the role of judge, in yet another display of her being in a major position for a female in this era.

The pacing of the trial is well done. Brainy puts up a very tough prosecution which we've discussed at length before, and Part 1 of the story ends on a tense note. Part 2 opens with Superboy desperately doing some research, much like a lawyer would be in a legal thriller, and meanwhile Legionnaires and other other allies like the Subs are tuning in as the tension heightens. Superboy mounts a spirited comeback...only for Brainy to crush it. Superboy resorts to more theatrical tactics with Proty's help, and again Brainy beats him back. Ultimately, Brainy has it in the bag.

From there, Hamilton cleverly has Brainy add in a twist: he agrees with Superboy that the Code should indeed be changed--which says quite a bit about flexibility in codes and laws. However, that doesn't change that Star Boy violated the law while it was in place.

Superboy's closing argument is a fantastic bit of dialogue: "Will you expel Star Boy, shatter his career, just because he defended himself against a ruthless murderer? Think...YOU may be in that position yourselves someday!"

From there the voting begins and it's always been the most interesting part of the story. The girls, naturally, all vote to acquit--that is except ol' ironbutt herself going against the grain as usual! Meanwhile, Superboy, Mon-El and Ultra Boy show compassion for vulnerable Legionnaires and also vote to acquit. Yet besides Brainy and Imra, others vote to expel, and it's most of the boys: Dirk, Gim, Jan, Cham, Cos and soon Lyle and Tenz. Bah!

Yet, beyond all of them, one that stands out as unique is that Lightning Lad votes to acquit. That says a lot about this prolific hero. By now, he certainly has more life experience than most the others, and he knows what it means to feel tragedy. Perhaps he knows better than anyone when its time to show compassion and bend the rules. This makes me like Garth more than ever.

There's also Jimmy Olsen voting guilty, when there's no real reason for him to do so. I think he needs a space ass-kicking.

At last the results are in, and he's been expelled. The panel of him leaving is excruciating and painful. Poor Thom. Soon after, he's in a bit of shellshock, not quite being able to process what's happened. I've certainly been there.

But it's not all bad. Dream Girl is waiting and they're together now. And also waiting are the Subs, offering him a new start. If I didn't love them already, I'd do so now.

All in all, another big success of an issue, and another heartbreaker.

Lettercol Review: a reader suggests his creation, Porcupine Pete!

Of note: this issue is the first to feature Direct Currents, DC's new insert listing what other periodicals where on sale that week.

Also: in Superboy this week, Dev Em returns again with the Kryptonite Kid, though I actually don't know much about this story.

Is the Superboy story in the Archive too? I've got the original comic, read it yesterday. The panel where he saves (the world's dumbest detective) Pete Ross, does it really say "farting the bog?" Or were my eyes delusional? I looked at it three times, couldn't believe it. Maybe I'll look at it again today.

The Legion Story

CB covered it pretty well and some of the social opinions I could give I think will be better written by the usual crowd but to refer to my post on the previous issue, these comics were influential in developing kids' opinions and viewpoints. Things like p. 14 bottom panel are disappointing.

Most striking to me of course was our timing. I guess I have a habit of thinking everything is new but I imagine even this topic has been an issue of reflection since people first started fighting and defending.

Of most fun was seeing the start of so many LW traditions. Certainly hoping it draws some more to the thread. EDE, where are you?

Yes, kick Jimmy Olsen, Imra and all those guys in the butt. Just remember: what did YOUR faces look like when Dynamo Boy tossed you out on your butts?

Imra got a little smirky there.

BTW, I've read ahead several issues and in the letters pages, the fans went basically apeshit over Star Boy's expulsion. By around #347 or so, Mort basically says "we realize you fans want to boil us in oil".

Yet another example of Legion fandom pushing their influence into the series!

Ah, another reprint alteration.

Like he didn't get enough by creating Computo.

I didn't like Star Boy for the same reason--the crewcut looked so old fashioned in 1973, when I first read the story.

Have to say, though, that this story made me care about him.

Adv. 342

“The Legionnaire Who Killed” is hands down the best story of the Adventure run so far. It may even be in the best of the Adventure series, and it certainly qualifies as one of the top ten Legion stories of all time.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Hamilton had borrowed the plot from a novel or film, as he did so before (most notably with “The Super-Moby Dick of Space”). This story seems to have been inspired by any number of trial movies (“Inherit the Wind,” for example). But no matter. Hamilton makes it his own. He establishes Star Boy as a hero we care for. He creates a situation without an obvious right or wrong. He builds tension in one of the least action-packed sequences ever—the Legionnaires voting—and ends the story in a manner no reader in 1966 could have expected. Indeed the expulsion of Star Boy still holds up as a shocking and defining moment in Legion history.

Star Boy had gotten little attention in the series until now. After being completely ignored until 317, he pops up occasionally, sometimes makes brilliant contributions to Legion missions, and sometimes exercises questionable judgment. The latter depictions have led to many fans to characterize Thom Kallor as not the brightest bulb in the pack. However, in this story he comes across as Joe Average Super-hero: just a guy who misses the girl he likes, who wants to visit his parents, and who finds himself in a desperate situation. He does what any clear-thinking person would do: he grabs a gun and shoots the bastard who’s trying to shoot him. His decision saves his life and is cleared by the police. But that’s not good enough for the Legion.

Like Cobie, I’ve talked at length about this story over the years. I admire it because it presents a situation in which there is no clear-cut right or wrong. Yes, Thom acted in self defense (which is good), and yes, he violated the Legion’s code (which is not good). This moral dilemma invites the reader to ask, what would you do in this situation? (Cobie has said what he would do. I’d probably let Kenz shoot me just so I wouldn’t be expelled by my buddies. Cobie is the smarter one.)

The story also shows the limitations of rules and, yet, why rules are necessary. It is good for the Legion to have a code against killing—they are not only heroes but super-heroes: they should hold themselves to the highest standards (something today’s super-heroes often fail to do).

Yet codes cannot address every situation. They cannot be black and white, unchanging. This story vividly illustrates this; yet it also shows why expelling Star Boy for violating the code as it was may have been the right thing to do.

If you start making exceptions to the code, where do you draw the line? What if the next Legionnaire only “thought” it was necessary to kill a villain who, otherwise, was harmless? Only the code itself can be changed—but adherence to the code (whatever it is) must be enforced. This is the message of the story. The reader is free, of course, to agree or disagree.

If “The Legionnaire Who Killed” gave the reader nothing more than something to think about, it would have done its job and far exceeded 95 percent of the other Adventure stories so far. But Hamilton goes the extra mile by building tension during the trial and featuring sequences which expand on the milieu of the 30th century without straining credibility or appearing silly. (The slides of various Legionnaires on missions and the Scorpion Beast sequence are well played.) And then the tale ends with our protagonist—our hero— defeated, expelled and disgraced. How daring.

Yet there is a silver lining. The reason why I like this story so much and the reason I find it so challenging is because, in spite of Thom’s expulsion, it ends on a happy note. Thom gets the girl and he gets to join a new club. As Dream Girl says, it’s time to forget the past and look ahead to new adventures.

That may be the hardest thing any of us can do.

After reading the posts on this forum, I wonder if this issue was a commentary on the Comics Code. It was an unevenly enforced code that had influence on the stories and characters writers could use. Of course, I am a modern reader who laughs at Deadpool, so I might be expecting meta moments.

I will forgive Jimmy Olesen's vote for the sake of the Fourth World.

I hadn't thought of the Legion's code as being related to the Comics Code, Emily--interesting observation. If so, Hamilton seems to uphold the Code as it was written though maybe arguing that it should be changed.

Since this was one of Hamilton's last Legion stories, I can't help but wonder if its message about letting go of the past and embracing the future is meant as a goodbye.

I agree 100% with every part of that statement. This ranks among the greatest LSH stories of all time, and is a certain contender for best of the Adventure run.

Great review HWW. As you say, so much is about the pros and cons of codes, laws and regulations, and why they're needed but also why they should also sometimes be changed.

Superb observations and recounts by Cobie and especially HWW. I too feel that this issue of Adventure Comics has a duel distinction of being one of the most historically important Legion stories and one of the most engaging. There's really a lot going for this tale. Crisp art, a fully realized (and contained) story with finalized ramifications, the entire team at the very least name dropped, and the return or introduction of some favorite characters.

We spoke at length before about how our heroes are finally starting to have their personalities come out. Brainiac 5's definitely became cemented in the Computo storyline and I love that Hamilton was consistent with it here. He can be a little off-putting and single-minded, but it's due from working on well-intentioned projects. Though we may view him as pompous and not necessarily the "law," I do like Brainy as the prosecutor because someone of his caliber has a better shot of coming to the "right answer" faster. He ultimately did agree the code needed to be changed, but he also saw the need to uphold the black and white of abiding by laws and rules. What are sanctioned super-heroes without upholding rules?

Saturn Girl as a judge may have been a bit of a rig against Thom as the Legionnaire likely to also have that train of thought, but as the previous leader it's a natural role and her personality would ensure accountability and integrity from all parties. What better judge of proper legal work than a telepath? Of course, foul cries could have come for Imra's own vote ultimately winning ... I'm not about to ever accuse her of such things though, are you?

For readers, the return of Dream Girl is a treat. Here we really get to see the compassion missing from her introduction storyline due to her ruse. I loved her conflict about using her precognitive powers to see the verdict early. We see this theme pop up later on in Dream Girl's tenure, and sadly usually her hesitation to view the future does indeed mean negative results are forthcoming. Intuition is likely unavoidable for a precog of her caliber. Had they been dating longer, Thom may have realized by her hesitation his fate was sealed even though Nura truly didn't glimpse anything.

Being able to see the Legionnaires' votes is a real treat and another reason this tale likely holds everyone's attention. It's fun to rationalize their decisions, isn't it? Thom's "All American" presentation with his family and crush as pointed out earlier likely spoke for why he blended in so much in the past. He was just a good kid doing a good job. That may have impacted the girls' votes for acquittal just as much as his budding romance, honestly. Really, his "romance with Dream Girl" shouldn't have been their biggest sway. Half of them loathed her their first encounter and hadn't seen her since! Ayla especially is fully justified if she wanted to have some resentment. Alas to the story potential. Our Legion ladies also have some of the more passive powersets. I'd like to think, much like the Superpeople, that they can easily fathom a situation where their powers aren't enough to protect them and thus side with Thom.

The other boys bear the brunt of the guilty votes. Most of them have strong personalities and offensive powers so it's easy to see why they couldn't relate. Others are also leaders and scientists and may see, like Brainy, the need to uphold the rules. Element Lad, despite being Star Boy's pal last story, is no surprise as a guilty vote to me. As the sole survivor of a murdered world, I'm sure Jan takes offense on taking a life. Lightning Lad's stand-alone vote for acquittal is fascinating, and was likely a nod to his own past tragedy as others pointed out. I have to wonder if this trial had happened later, would Matter-Eater Lad's vote have changed? He's about to spend his next adventure with a gun frequently pinned on him in the Super-Stalag.

Love this issue. It's always a treat to re-read and analyze.

I suppose that this has been covered elsewhere, but isn't Kenz Nuhor supposed to be from Naltor?

It is interesting to speculate what he forsaw about the consequences of his actions: that he would not go to jail, that he would fail to kill Star Boy, but that he would be expelled from the Legion: all good reasons to follow the choice he chose.

Of course, we can never know what was in Kenz' mind, unless the Legion holds another séance.

Excellent analysis of the voting patterns, Future. I was bothered by the rationale that most of the girls voted for acquittal because of Thom's romance with Dream Girl. Your speculation makes much more sense.

It's interesting that Invisible Kid votes guilty but later (as leader) invites Thom back into the Legion. I wonder what changed his heart.

Yes, Kenz is from Naltor.

His being from Naltor does create some apparent contradictions, however. As you suggest, one wonders why he didn't foresee the outcome of his encounter with Thom, or, if he did, why did he proceed anyway? (One might suppose his power, like Nura's originally, was flawed.)

Another inconsistency is when his brother, Yark Althu, was introduced during the Action run. It was explained that the custom of siblings sharing their last name is not followed on Naltor; yet, when the White Witch's surname was later revealed to be the same as Dream Girl's.

Fans have speculated on these matters over the years, but I don't think there was any official explanation from DC.

Nura's real last name was Schnappin, but she didn't like it and changed to "Nal" to say she was from Naltor. And then her sister changed hers to match when she wanted Legionnaire membership

I was never a fan of the sexist dismissal of the girls just blindly voting for true love. Granted, thinking he's a swell guy isn't much better so I'd like to think their passive powers were more of a factor. Likewise, I feel Jimmy Olsen's random guilty vote is just from ignorance. He had no idea who Star Boy really was with his minimal adventures with them and was probably in the middle of something in his home time. Guy broke the code? Guilty. Lyle I can see voting at the time to uphold the rules but has no problem welcoming him back after the "message was received" and the rules were changed. I always surmised that the addition of "Sir Prize" without knowing his identity was Thom's loophole into keeping membership, since he had already been unanimously (re)instated.

Something else else else I love, as you pointed out HWW, was that Thom wasn't just written out. He and Nura going to the Subs make me think his expulsion was told more for the story potential or a statement like Emily points out. A far better feeling rather than just writing the character out. This and the next few issues really flesh out the Legion's universe with more faces or returning ones. Kind of a shame we never actually see Star Boy and Dream Girl in action with the Subs, short of a group shot in a flashback in the 70s Secrets mini, I believe.

Wait, wait, I know this one.

Schnappin. That was Reboot Nura.

And Reboot Mysa was Mordru's daughter, not Nura's sister.

The v.1 Silver Age White Witch was originally introduced as Nura's sister, Zola Aq.

For some reason, when she re-located to Zerox, the Sorcerer's world, she changed her name to Mysa Nal.

(At least that was the name she was known by when she left the Sorcerer's World to join the Legion.)

In a prior story in which Proty II was featured (that we reviwed in one of the previous Archives threads--was it the one where Proty creates a contest to determine the next leader? ), Proty is specifically said to be able to speak when taking human form. I took issue with it as something I've never seen before or since, but the precedent was made in-continuity prior to this story.

Hm. I think it could be deeper than that. Jimmy is "Superman's Pal" and completely idolizes him. Superman doesn't kill. Jimmy would expect any hero worth his or her salt to live up to Superman's unimpeachable standard. Therefore, the "guilty" vote.

I agree. So why did Superboy bother to use his super-ventriloquism if Proty II could speak for himself? Did he not trust Proty to remember his lines?

Personally I'm sticking with my theory that young Kal-El takes perverse pleasure in freaking people out using his super-ventriloquism. In fact I bet he secretly gave Allan Funt the idea for Candid Camera. And don't even get me started on his involvement with Crank Yankers!

Ugh. Super-ventriloquism. One of Kal-El's best-forgotten ancillary powers in my opinion. Doesn't hurt my feelings at ALL that it's pretty much been non-existent for quite some time...

This was a great story. Not sure if I'd put it in a "top ten" or whatever, but definitely pretty mature for Silver Age DC with a brave ending.

One thing I noticed from Swan's art here is that Thom comes across as possibly a little older than most of the other male Legionnaires. He comes across as slightly more ruggedly handsome here than the other more boyish faces. (Maybe he even has a fuller chest?) I could be imagining it. Obviously, he got the spotlight in this issue, so Swan would have spent more time rendering Thom's face for reactions and emotions. I suppose the crew-cut ages him as well, though I never was struck so before.

I like the chemistry between Thom and Nura here. It really rings true to their later further development as a couple. Sure it's more earnest and innocent here, but Swan somehow conveys their chemistry rather well without them actually kissing or heavily embracing. I believe them here as a budding couple more than what we've seen on-panel with Garth & Imra and Jo & Tinya. That's either a testament to Swan's superior talent or admittedly my bias as a fan of Thom/Nura. I'll be curious to see what Swan does with those other couples if and when the opportunity presents itself in successive stories.

Speaking of Nura, I noticed that in a panel or two she has long boots on partially up her shin instead of the slippers she wears otherwise. Future artists must have taken note as they foreshadow her stylish silver boots to come! Those and her stylish cape show some accessorizing on her part and make her stand out from the other girls who don't do that. It's good for both the welcome non-strict costume adherence so prevalent in the Silver Age (and the Legion) and because real girls would likely change up some instead of constantly wearing the same thing. (Supergirl herself would become an icon for frequent major and minor costume changes.)

If I were Hamilton, I would have used Thom's near-death encounter with Starfinger in his client's defense. In that story Thom could have used his power to cause Starfinger (then, not known to be a brainwashed Garth) to fall into the ocean and possibly drown in his own defense in order to not kill the villain. Consequently, Thom nearly died. Superboy could have argued this as influencing Thom's actions in a manner resembling PTSD. At the very least, it would show that Thom has shown respect for the code above and beyond and would never discard it callously. Brainy would probably have thrown it in Thom's face, though, berating Thom for not doing same again. In any case I wish it were used (or other previously-dramatized instances, such as the Super-Moby Dick) instead of making up new, fairly unremarkable situations.

I DO like how Brainy wasn't fooled by Proty's ruse and how he clearly used his intellect in what would normally be a very fearful situation. Where was this Brainy during the Computo 2-parter, huh? Probably no other Legionnaire would have reacted this way, so that's good usage of the character, as was his role in this story in general.

I hadn't remembered that Kenz Nuhor (Anyone else notice that sounding it out phonetically, his name can be pronounced "Ken's New Whore"?!? ) was basically a stalker! In its own way, this presages the phenomenon that celebrities are plagued by in modern times. I'd actually be curious to know more of New Whore's backstory and what the circumstances were of his relationship with Nura! I doubt the sequel that's been mentioned here went into that very much, but color me curious!

Again, a very good issue from the adventure era! I'm curious to see how it will stack up for me when I eventually rank all of these revisited stories in my mind.....

A ranking of top ten stories sounds like fun and may be something we'll want to pursue down the road (and not in this thread, so it won't detract from discussions). Perhaps we can tabulate the results and make a Legion World Top 10 of Adventure stories.

I've already been mentally grading the comics as I've been going along. So far, alas, I'd give only about four stories A's, including "The Legionnaire Who Killed."

I love the idea of ranking anything. This will give me an excuse to go back and read the third and fourth Archive, which I missed much of the discussion on.

It may be tricky to rank some of the earlier stories. They have such historical significance or introduce favorite characters, but not all of them are solid stories.

The idea of Thom being a little bit older is intriguing, and one that I like. I've always operated under the assumption Lar was a "year or two older" than his teammates. This was definitely reinforced by how he was depicted in the TMK and Postboot eras. Drawn a bit taller/wider than the others.

The age difference could attest to why Thom thought so many of the team's games and Shurg dancing was silliness over contemplating relationships in life.

True. Each of us will have to decide on some criteria for what makes a good Legion story. For me, because I've spent much of the last few decades studying writing and story telling, I prefer to focus on those aspects and forgo historical significance. Therefore, one of the weakest stories to me is Adv. 304, in spite of Lightning Lad's death. (In fact, most of the stories related to his death and resurrection are weak.) Others may have a different view.

Another criterion may be, how much do we factor in childhood memories? BB has waxed eloquently on this subject, and it may be difficult to separate our unconditional feelings from our evaluations--though we don't necessarily have to. (I've admitted that my fondness for 328 probably clouds my judgment a little; I like this story better than most others do.)

One reason I've been reluctant to offer grades in my reviews is because I'd like some sort of rubric specific to story telling or to comics (or to super-hero stories) to ensure a certain amount of objectivity as well as completeness. I did a bit of research a while ago but couldn't find a rubric to my liking. Maybe others have suggestions?

I had a theory about this a while back that I posted on the now defunct Silver Age Legion board. The very next story is The Evil Hand of the Luck Lords. In it, the Luck Lords were thought to be responsible for Star Boy's ill-fated journey to visit his parents that led to his expulsion. In that story it is cowardice that makes Invisible Kid turn himself invisible in order to ward off the Luck Lords' curse. After doing so, he was unable to return to normal. Imagine being made invisible against your will. You might start to question your very existence. I Kid's cowardice in this story may have caused a crisis of conscience that may have made him more compassionate toward Star Boy, who was also supposedly cursed by the Luck Lords and he may have later seen the chance to reverse his vote after he became leader.

"Farted the bog down to its bottom." Lol, I'm still chuckling over that.

"Rules." Rules dictating behavior over no-win situations might be written to give pause? Given (imposed) by societies to cause individuals to at least consider other possibilities. It is not beyond us to decide for the individual, which no-win decision we prefer as a society or even to instill severe penalties to those that choose otherwise.

The concept that the lives of others, even criminals are worth more than our own? Not beyond the realm. I'd be surprised if there weren't a few established philosophies that believe along those lines?

Ranking: I think the only criteria I'd use would be, which stories do I like best. It's the only thing I'm qualified to measure.

While I've no doubt of the writers on the thread that this issue is solidly constructed, it only moderately held my interest as a stand alone story. Even after all these years, the art and colors popped. It was a very nice looking story. But I never did buy into Brainy's assertion that the branch wouldn't have squished Star Boy. Regardless, to me then and now, the correct controversy was not whether or not Star Boy could have resolved the situation without killing Nuhor but rather that he should have been willing to die rather than kill Nuhor. Effectively the same result but semantically different. That was the direction I saw the story/prosecution should have gone and IMO, the more controversial.

In making the rule, was Legion saying that any Legionnaire pledges to die, rather than kill? That is a concept worth exploring IMO. That is what Brainy should have been prosecuting, not whether Star Boy could have resolved the issue without killing Nuhor. After all, Nuhor was after only one person. The harder story to write, similar to Zod, would have been Roxxas.

Interesting...

I'm sure I'll reread the story with that thought in mind. To me, turning invisible was a practical solution to the problem but I think I'll be rereading it with more thought given to their motivations.

I'm not sure "cowardice" describes Invisible Kid's choice to turn himself invisible in 343. It seemed more like a simple precautionary measure to ward off the jinx.

Otherwise, I like your theory. The experience of not being able to turn visible again would certainly have unnerved Invisible Kid and make him realize how precarious his (and Star Boy's) situation was.

That's probably the main criterion any of us use. Still, I find it useful to analyze why I like what I like. Looking at stories through the lens of specific criteria or standards is not only fun. It can uncover insights and preferences we didn't know we had.

Okay, "cowardice" may be too strong a word. "Most worried" was the phrase used in the actual story to describe I Kid and Violet.

"Fear" may be more appropriate. In the scene, Lyle is quick to say that if bad luck is real, all of the Legionnaires present are jinxed because they touched the jinx stone. Two panels later, he turns invisible because "maybe that'll ward off the jinx." If it's not fear (which would be a reasonable response to facing an unknown threat), he's at least being very cautious.

Out of curiosity, I looked up Wikipedia's definition of "cowardice":



While Lyle may have been afraid--it's impossible to tell in the scene--he did not express excess self-concern. Nor did he do anything that jeopardized what was "right, good, [or] of help" to himself or others. In fact, he immediately tried to help Vi before learning he couldn't turn visible again.

You edited your post while I was typing mine.

We'll go with "most worried" then.

That's how I read Math books.

Story books? I agree or disagree with the routes taken. Get generally POed if they let the bad guy win by making the hero stupid instead of making the bad guy clever and the good guy more clever. That's probably the extent of my "analysis" when reading. I enjoy or not and try to let the writer take me where they want to take me. I'm easily manipulated, lol.

Since I don't have a literature background upon which to relate the technicalities of story construction, I don't considered myself qualified to rate "ten best" upon any of those things other than "I enjoyed it." I imagine my criteria probably encompasses in an integrated way, most of the things the writer was trying to accomplish. I'm sure I miss a lot in stories that others get but for now, my process works for me.

This was a really odd story for a superhero comic of that era. Superheroes just didn't kill period so having a teen hero kill even in self defense was probably a big deal at the time. There was no real chance that the vote could have gone the other way. Star Boy would have to leave the Legion because heroes didn't kill back than. Very cool that Thom ends up joining the subs and even though the story ends with him taking one last look at the clubhouse he does appear in the very next issue. This story also introduces Color Kid and Calamity King both of who eventually become legion members during the 5 yr gap. Love how something that would normally be just a throw away panel lots of times is used in the future!

The comparison to math books is interesting. On one hand, we're taught to think of math as objective and storytelling as subjective, but a certain amount of objectivity in analyzing stories can help us evaluate them and uncover our own preferences or even prejudices. This is called critical thinking.

If someone says, "I like chocolate ice cream because it tastes good," they're really saying the same thing twice. They're not giving a reason ("because") or drawing a conclusion. A reason would be something like, "I like chocolate ice cream because my mother used to give me two scoops after I did my homework." A conclusion would be, "Therefore, I learned to associate chocolate ice cream with reward." Not only has the person learned to evaluate chocolate ice cream but to understand where her evaluation comes from.

Analyzing stories by asking critical questions can produce similar revelations. Do I like this story? Why? Do I not like it? Why not? Is it the character? The dialogue? The villains? The hero's crewcut? And is that the only aspect of the story I don't like? Are there other aspects that work for me?

Reviewing these old Legion stories has produced some interesting revelations for me. In some cases, I've come away with a better appreciation of a story I previously neither liked nor disliked (339 is a good example); in other cases, my opinion was reinforced by better understanding the flaws or strengths of the story.

It sounds like you do the same thing in a less formalized way. As you point out, the main goal is to ask, "Where is the writer trying to take me?" and "Did he, in fact, take me there?" The yes/no answer can then be expanded with reasons ("The bad guy makes the hero look stupid") and specific examples--which, to a degree, is what most of us have done in these reviews.

The bottom line: Use whatever works for you.

And, in a rare bit of continuity, Star Boy in 343 reflects back to shaking hands with Calamity King as what produced his bad luck. Hamilton surely must have been thinking ahead when he introduced Calamity King; the other examples of the Legionnaires breaking bad luck taboos (Lightning Lad stepping onto a world with his left foot, Triplicate Girl triplicating three times in one day, and Bouncing Boy winding the Planet Clock backwards) are not in their respective stories.

One of my absolute favorite parts of the reread. That and finding little easter eggs in the Legion Outpost.

Matter-Eater Man, awesome to have you join us! And good mention of the significance of the issue introducing two future Legionnaires, even if they're two of the more obscure ones.

HWW, out of curiosity, which stories would you rank as "A" so far? Is my beloved "Mutiny" one of them? (Meaning should I get ready to say "YOU'RE NUTS!!!"). I'd think the Beast Boy story probably also qualifies.

Cobie, you can go ahead and say "YOU'RE NUTS!!!" I'd give "Mutiny" an A-.

My A's:
"The Legionnaire Who Killed" 342
"The Super-Moby Dick of Space" 332
"The War Between Krypton and Earth" 333
"The Hunters of the Super-Beasts" 339

Now that I know I have those, I think I'll put those issues next to the tub.

Did you know that in the next issue on the reading list, Legionnaires STEAL!!! in the very first panel. They deserved all the "bad luck" that came their way.

YOU'RE NUTS!!!



Well, at least it's an A-. I agree about all the other four which I loved and thought were high quality.

I think almost all of the A's on my list are still to come.

REALLY?!?! No offense intended, but I think that one's undeserved. That probably wouldn't surprise you as I outlined my problems with said issue in the last thread. It was much better than I remembered it being, but I'd give it a "B" at best....

Of those missing from your list, I'd give "Starfinger" Part 1 (and possibly Part 2) a solid "A" off the top of my head.

One small additional personal caveat about the current Kenz Nuhor issue at hand: I'd have preferred if, during Lu's example of being in dire peril, that Hamilton and Swan had portrayed her as Triplicate Girl instead of Duo Damsel in it.

Don't get me wrong: I can see why it was done: a) to correctly portray a current member's powers for a new reader, & b) to make regular readers know Lu's status quo is permanent. But if they'd shown Trips instead, it would have been an opportunity to briefly recap what happened to her in the previous story, and it would have made more sense because the LSH would obviously have more "tape" on Trips than on DD.

I know, I know---the very next issue would refer to Lu's tragedy among the other recent Legion misfortunes, but it felt crass enough to take me out of that story for a moment.

And, yeah, I also realize Lu's loss of one of her bodies was basically downplayed for a long, long time, and she's eventually get her due. And that's why I call it a "caveat" and not an "abomination"!

No offense taken. Each of us must decide what works for us and what doesn't in a story.

For me, "The Super-Moby Dick" shines because it gives us a reason to care about Lightning Lad and to sympathize with him even though he plans to kill the creature. The story sets up its situation very well and develops into a tense climax with the conflict coming (for the most part) from the characters having believable and conflicting goals. Furthermore, the story ends with Lightning Lad still crippled and learning to live with it.

"The Super-Moby Dick" has its flaws, as you point out, but an A does not equal perfection; it signifies excellence. Outstanding features such as those mentioned above sometimes override flaws.

I'm not sure how I would evaluate the Starfinger parts yet. Probably an A- for Part 1 and a B for Part 2.

That whale changed size more often than Oprah.

EXACTLY! One of my big complaints!

I was wondering if anyone else thought the Nura/Thom chemistry in this issue was better than the other Legion couples' prior to this story. I feel Swan's art played a big part in giving me that impression. Thoughts?

And, for some readers, the size-changing whale is more of an issue than it is for others. I wouldn't even have noticed the art snafu if it hadn't been pointed out.

As a writer, I tend to focus more on writing aspects of the story. The art serves the story, not the other way around. (Though art, understandably, is what most people notice about comics.) For some, art snafus are a distraction that prevents them from enjoying the story. For others, they're gaffes that can be overlooked.

Absolutely. There's a sweetness to their relationship in 342. Thom is clearly smitten, and she reciprocates. In fact, it's Nura who salvages the situation by joining the Subs and securing Thom's place in that group. She clearly loves him and vice versa.

I personally feel that synergy between writing and art is essential in this particular medium. Otherwise, one could just read a prose novel or browse through an art book. If one is weaker than the other, it's hard for me to feel the story succeeds.

Admittedly, this is a personal criterion that has evolved over my decades of comic reading. I used to feel more like you, in that I considered the story/script was more important. I understand that isn't precisely what you mean to say, but it's clear you lean in that direction.

That's a legitimate position.



I will absolutely admit that story is more important to me than art.

Art, however, is part of the presentation of the comic and, as with any presentation, can determine whether or not the message is received as intended. So, I never discount the value of art. However, I recognize that writing and art are separate disciplines executed (in this case) by different professionals, and I'm more interested in the work Hamilton, Siegel, Shooter, et al., did, than that of Forte, Swan, etc.

That said, an outstanding artist such as Swan can truly enhance a story.

I sometimes wonder if the tale is more important than the art, as some (like you and younger me) believe, then why read comics? You get so much more story for your money in a novel after all.

Is it the superheroes, which are still found primarily in comics? The frequent "fix" of a periodical? The open-endedness of a serialized story? The smaller time investment? More than likely, a combination of all these and more.

On some level, though, I maintain that it boils down to the fundamental difference of getting to "see" the story as you read. So whether you and others realize it, the art is much more important, at least on a subliminal level, than you give it credit for being.

There IS something more real about their romance here. Perhaps it's because we see them as a couple outside of their regular Legion duties; unlike with Garth/imra and Tinya/Jo who, if I remember right, we've only really seen doing couple-y stuff during the Weddings that Wrecked the Legion story. Granted, it may be because they're all Legionnaires while Nura wasn't, but still.

I think Swan's more naturalistic style definitely enhances the story and the romance angle. Forte's figures were so stiff and wooden, and the dialogue was so overly expository in earlier stories, it made it seem like teenagers acting their parts in a (really bad) high school play or something. Swan's poses and facial expressions are just so much more natural and convincing than Forte's ever were.

I believe the script is probably the most important, BUT I also think super duper art can really enhance a story, whereas mediocre art can really damage it. Look at the Mantis Morlo story for example. It could've been a great story, with a rare look at 3 Legionnaires' home planets, a new villain, a budding romance, etc. etc. Instead, it only rates as average imho, because the art is so bad.

Thanks, Jim. I really think a BIG part of Thom and Nura's chemistry is Swan's art. I wonder if Swan ever drew romance comics during his career? (His Wikipedia article appears incomplete with no attempt at a bibliography.) His penchant for more naturalistic and subtle facial expressions compared to many artists of his era would certainly make him a natural for them! There's a certain tenderness in the looks Thom and Nura have for each other in the story that sells them as a couple to me in a way that maybe John Forte couldn't.

Compare these 2 romantic panels by Forte and Swan. Not only is Imra's pose stiff and wooden, but she sounds like she's narrating a documentary about coral. She's dictating to Garth that she wants to be kissed. And neither her nor Garth's faces show any emotion at all. By contrast, Nura's face is full of emotion and she's reaching out to touch Thom's face. She doesn't have to tell him she wants to be kissed, her body language shows it all. And Thom's dialogue is all about his feelings for her. Who needs coral?

Now, that's a STARK contrast, Jim!

In Forte's defense, though, he may have done somewhat better in some other panels in that same story.

P.S. Is Nura workin' that barrette or what?

You mean her antenna?

Okay, maybe this is a more fair comparison. Forte does a little better here, with Garth and Imra actually touching and Garth is at least smiling. And lo and behold! Garth actually uses Imra's real name, whereas Star Boy uses Dream Girl. But still the figures look very stiff and hardly warm and cuddly.

That's definitely better, but it doesn't have Swan's warmth. Plus, Imra's boobs shown in profile distract once again!

Yes, Garth better be careful. If his finger twitches he could get a paper cut on those things.

I'd agree the art has a lot to do with increasing the romantic appeal of Star Boy and Dream Girl. She's really close to him, looking a bit dewy-eyed and touching his face; Garth and Imra, apart from being drawn somewhat stiffly, are just holding hands, at a distance. Perhaps Star Boy calls her Dream Girl because she is his dream girl.

The Star Boy trial story was a mix of great and questionable for me. The actual vote, while adding to the tension of the story, annoyed me because of the "all the girls voted for romance" explanation. Also, Saturn Girl voted and it seemed to me that the judge should not vote.

I figured Brainy was faking it with the video evidence Superboy found. Did he really know that was an android he killed, or was this one of his post-facto justifications?

The Legionnaires who voted against Star Boy didn't seem to consider that he was under extreme duress and not able to think through all the possibilities - no computer mind. Maybe his arm was so heavy, he couldn't even have aimed for the tree limb.

The above points aside, this tale illustrated one of my favourite themes, compassion. Superboy, Mon-el and Ultra Boy all understood that other people did not enjoy their privileged protection from harm. The Subs welcomed Star Boy into their ranks; I doubt they had a killing-is-okay policy, but they certainly had a different perspective on rejection from the Legion.

Furthermore, Saturn Girl displayed her unique personality of the hard-edged, rule-stickler Legionnaire that would set her apart from the other members, especially the females. It has surprised me, reading these early stories, how much of her character was established from the outset.

I'll occasionally still "catch" myself just reading the words.

Gon was a real eye opener for me. No words at all.

If I were a comics writer? My first page would be a warning to the reader, if you're not reading the art, don't bother because you won't understand the story I'm about to tell. Heck, I'd even steal the way Fables sets moods using the borders of the page.

Like most things practiced, my ability to read graphic literature has improved as I have gone on in life. There are many things in these books I am re-reading I did not know were there. Things that change the story and the mood.

Some books just seem like words with illustrations but when the writer-artist teams get it exactly right, the story purrs. It cannot be "read" and hope to be understood or enjoyed.

I love when the writer lets the artist tell the bigger portion of the story. It's daring and risky to not ram it down the reader's throats with words, to tell only "part" of the story and trust that the artist can convey and the reader will perceive the rest.

Re the discussion on art, plenty of scenes are more effective when simply drawn rather than when spelled out. Plus, terrible art can destroy a good script if the art doesn't clearly show what's going on.

Adventure #343

In general, I've never cared much for the concept of the Luck Lords, and in fact don't really like the idea of "luck" or probability in general for super-characters. (Maybe I missed a really great Longshot story?). The one great exception, of course, is Calamity King and a certain LW poster that came up with a groovy way to do it.

That all being said, what I like about this story is it throws front and center all the tragedy that's befallen many Legionnaires thus far. If DC was focusing more on psychological problems during this era, they could have included Dirk's space fatigue, Mon's centuries of isolation or even the big one: Garth's death and resurrection. It hammers home that being a superhero means sacrifice, and that's an important aspect of the genre. Marvel Comics had recently brought that aspect back to the forefront and the Legion was the perfect DC franchise to show not every series had forgotten it.

The opening splash opens with an awe-inspiring depiction of the Gorilla Nebula! Just another one of those "how could they not been on drugs" moments of genius.

In fact, everything about this issue is particularly beautiful by Swan and Klein. Hard to say why exactly but it feels even more vibrant than usual.

First Sun Boy and then Saturn Girl refer to superstition and luck as hogwash. Yet Hamilton does a good job showing the Legionnaires increasingly doubting themselves and succumbing to despair. It's a good way to show how belief in such things can overtake one--whether luck, religion or other things.

It's great to see the Super Pets! By now they had become increasingly rare.

This issue ties into a lot of past continuity by referencing various tragedies, as well as guest starring Bouncing Boy and Star Boy. The continued tight continuity continues to enhance the Re-read project.

Calamity King has his second appearance! And Star Boy throws him under the bus, leading to yet another brilliant EDE theory where Thom held a long term grudge and purposely prevented Calamity King from ever joining the LSH.

Perhaps the single biggest part of the story is that Garth refers to Imra as "the girl I love"! Man! Romance has gotten hot and heavy in the Legion! This is quite a shift from "dating".

The intro to Thuan and the Citadel is well done--even better than the Luck Lords themselves.

The story ends in the only way a story having to do with luck--by showing luck had nothing to do with anything. As they did years earlier, the Super-Pets save the day, though perhaps for the last time.

All in all, another solid story. Not my favorite but well done.

Bonus Lettercol Review: Mort clarifies that Imra was appointed Deputy Leader by Brainy in response to a fan question about who is the leader, anyway? It seems like he just makes it up on the spot, accidentally kicking off a long term Legion tradition!

Even crazier: some dude claims he's a superhero known as...Lard Lad!!! I shit you not! Did we know about this and discuss it years ago? Do we need to track this dude down for a fight to the death?!

An interesting discussion on writing and art over the weekend. In my opinion one simply cannot provide a critical evaluation of any comic book story without taking into account both art and writing, and viewing them as an interconnected thing. Since the medium itself stands out as visual storytelling, it by its very nature has a bigger emphasis on art than almost any other medium.

An artist in comics is most akin to a director in film, which as everyone knows, is the single most important person for any film project, more than the writers, actors, etc. Both the artist and the director are the decision makers on key moments, sequences and placements that serve as the very delivery system for the story.

Things like tone, tension and emotion are all conveyed through the artist. The artist is also in charge of the mis en scene--the placement of everything in the panels (and how the panels are placed themselves sometimes) which tells the most overt part of the story.

The example of Nura and Thom's romance is an excellent example of this. It's not enough to be told a couple is falling in love; with comics books the only way to effectively convey that emotion--to make us believe it--is through the art. In a sense, continuing to borrow from the film comparison, the artist must also do the job of the actor to make us believe what we're reading is real. The panels posted by Jim do a great job showing this: Nura and Thom are shown to the tender, vulnerable and caring, and therefore more romantic with a heavy, tense atmosphere. Meanwhile Imra is stiff and formal; it's almost as if she's acting the way she thinks she should act, instead of showing how she really feels. It makes her appear more awkward and cold, or at the very worst, dishonest.

That's not to say the writing is less important. That's certainly not the case (and I wanted to state the obvious). There are very different aspects of writing comics: general plotting, specific page by page plotting, scripting dialogue, etc. The most important of these is the "page by page plotting" and that is where the synchronicity of the writer and artist is most important. That is where the pacing and tension building occur, and where the transition from Point A to Point B either falls flat on its face or pops with excitement. It requires both parties working at their best.

I'm like Lardy. For many years, I would proclaim writing as the single most important part of the story. But I've grown to realize I was wrong, and see just how important the artist truly is in this medium.

Lardy, a quick check shows Swan never worked on any romance titles during his career (though many of them are notoriously uncredited so you never know).

He did work in a lot of other genres in the 50's though including war, crime and sci-fi. I'd be curious to see those stories. He got his start on Boy Commandos, being the first real recurring series artist when Kirby left.

He was probably just too busy with the Superman titles during the heyday of romance comics in the 50's and 60's.

ADV 343

Conclusion: I expected spooky eye critters and I was totally amused by that drawing Bouncing Boy carried around. Interpretations of other civilizations are some of my favorite scenes and this issue is a cornucopia. We get to see some of my favorite supporting cast: the Legion "Pets."

p1. cool beans.
p2. Legionnaires plunder archeological treasures for profit and there conveniently happens to be an emergency dive lever where it can be accidentally bumped almost every time someone uses the ship. Who would make that? Who would BUY that? This page is the perfect example of something I've mentioned I do NOT like, dumbing down the heroes in order to try and move a plot.

p3 EVERY character has unique facial features. Love the art.
p4 Some characterization for future writers to play with.
p5 taught me to always look where I was going when flying through a city.

Legion Outpost: So THAT's where he got his LW ID. lol
PSA: Cabbage did me in. I'd have had a perfect score.

p13 That's not bad luck. That's a ninja!
p14 How amazingly consistent the drawings on the temple are with the luck beliefs of other planets, described earlier in the issue.
p 16 DOH! I thought it was going to be that thieving archeologist. Check out that look on Comet's face. That's one po-ed horsey.

Second story: Pete Ross redeems himself from the previous story.

Probability and luck would be different things I think. I do like "luck" depicted as one of the natural energies of the universe. Logic, magic, luck,.. things like that to divvy up what makes life move. The great hunt for a unification theory, would be a good Brainy Story IMO.

I think a lot of Imra's "personality" in these early stories was attributed to her simply because of the rather sterile silver age exposition that was used in the dialogue and since she was the most often featured of the girls she was the one who got the lion's (or lioness's) share of the dialogue, making her seem more "strictly business" than the other girls. Later writers built on this of course and explained that she had to act cold and unemotional to avoid being overwhelmed by the emotions of those around her via her telepathic abilities.

Oops. I missed a whole page of discussion! I was responding to Cramer's post on the last page.

Tip: If you don't want to quote the post you're replying to, using the "Reply" or "Quick Reply" still means that the little "[Re: *]" beside the post title links back to the post you're replying to, to avoid these little whoopses

Say whaaaaaaaat?!?!

Wasn't me, man. Wasn't even ALIVE back then!

Who the hell WAS this imposter?!?!

Maybe its a time traveling you?!

Luck powers seem to be something most comic book writers don't get, or don't handle well, since *all* comic book characters, pretty much by default, have ridiculous streaks of awesome or awful luck, as the needs of the story dictate.

Indeed, for some heroes, 'hard luck' is part of their schtick at times, with Spider-Man, Nova, the Thing or Booster Gold sometimes having really bad days when the one gizmo they were counting on fails at the worst possible time, or they get blamed for something, or some other person gets the credit for one of their accomplishments.

With that sort of luck-as-drama built into the storytelling, a character whose *power* is luck has an uphill struggle to shine, as the freakishly improbable one in a million long-shot is not only probable, but kind of the rule, in a comic book universe.

That said, my favorite luck-based super-character was Talisman, from the Justice Machine.

At one point, he's being held hostage with some sort of energy gun to his head, and the leader of his hero team just shook his head and said to the villain, 'No deal. Go ahead and shoot him.' The villain did so, and the gun misfired and blew out the power to the room, leading to the heroes making short work of them. 'I knew he couldn't actually shoot you without *something* going wrong...'

Ah, the pre-Image days of Independent comics, the Justice Machine, the Elementals, the Southern Knights...

Uh, No. That would be me.

I LOVE pages without text. I included many in my own graphic novel. IMHO it's much more effective at setting the tone of the story than to belabor it with a lot of words.

Thanks, Reboot.

It always seemed cold to me to show Star Boy which members voted for or against him, though of course the fans would want to know.

To add to my own thoughts about writing vs. art in comics, I WILL say that modern comics have maybe gone too far in how much they've generally cut words out. Omniscient narrative captions are increasingly rare and thought-bubbles virtually non-existent these days. While I don't think it's necessary to explain things that are drawn for you and plain to see, I think narration can set a tone and allow the writer's voice to be expressed. And, of course, it gives the reader a little more bang for his or her buck by extending the experience. And if you have only a so-so artist failing to convey or add nuances to a text-lite script, the book is not going to entertain the reader.

I thought it was a good choice and a bold one. Look at all the discussion the vote has sparked here as we speculate as to their reasons for voting the way they did. And those contemporary readers who were devastated by Thom's expulsion might have found themselves suddenly disliking those who voted against him.

Sorry Jim. I knew it was you too, when I was typing that. The perils of posting from your phone.

Heh. No. If it was me, I would have elbowed my way into the story, not settled for the lettercol!

You're Forgiven Lad. It is odd that you wrote Lance though. I don't think he's even been on this thread.

I was reading a totally different thread right before. In my head I was saying "Jim" but typing "Lance". Unfortunately there's only a handful of people who are actually posting here!

Anyway, well done on picking two panels to compare! (Twice). Now you should post one of Nura in the cape!

The Luck Lords story.....hm. Not a fan, even after the re-read. Too many storytelling leaps. The power of the Luck Lords is ill-defined and just too unbelievable from that distance. If they had that much power, they could have done a lot more than just run their racket.

Then, there was the leap of the Luck Lords taking a pre-emptive strike against the Legion. Wouldn't it have been easier for them to take out the people who were going to call the LSH in? (This one's more of a caveat, I suppose.)

And Imra's leap to investigate Thaun is cheap and unearned. Let's face it...it was a storytelling shortcut! Very flimsy evidence leads to the story's solution. There really needed to be a smoking gun of some sort to earn that showdown.

Don't misunderstand--there've certainly been worse Legion stories. But it's clear the idea behind the story was to play with the idea of superstition in readers. It wasn't all that creatively done, and the story was obviously secondary to the idea. I also think the Legionnaires recently affected by loss could have been played up a little better.

You've done sooo much better, Hamilton!

Swan did a creditable job, though, with his designs for the Thaun citadel and vicinity and some of the more way-out things like the rainbows of Jupiter being stand-outs. I also liked the masks the Luck Lords wear. They were kinda creepy and a little ahead of their time. Lots of continued good work on facial expressions as well. More reason to affirm that Swan is one of my two favorite Silver Age artists (the other being John Romita).

Continuity note: More instances of Imra's prominent pointy side-boobage, particularly on page 7, panel 3!

I think the "Super Pets save the day ending" was too easy and too cliched. Already been done in The Legion of Super Traitors AND The Condemned Legionnaires. "Oh, gee. Our powers don't work on animals. We give up." It could've been a nice chance for some of the weaker members to shine. How cool would it have been if Lu, Vi, and the Kid had taken out the Luck Lords, after the more powerful, Imra, Garth, and Jan were taken out of action? Also, what's up with that one panel where Imra says, "There's one more bad guy in another room." It served no purpose.

Because Cobie demanded it! I always thought Jan and Nura would make a cute couple.

Is this another Siegel story?

No, the Luck Lords story is credited to Hamilton.

I miss thought bubbles as well, especially when the scenes feature only one character. Thought bubbles give us some nice insight into their personalities.

I wouldn't be surprised. The Imra-Brainy dynamic so far has shown that, even though these two are sometimes at odds, they hold great respect for one anothr and have a pretty deep friendship to boot.

Brainy and Imra's largely unstated friendship/respect is one of my favorite pieces of preboot Legion history! I love how perfectly professional and in some ways atypical of normal friendship qualities it is. When he hugs her good-bye at the end of v3, their FIRST ever hug, she knows something is wrong. Little nuances like that I miss.

Or when they both appoint themselves Element Lad's "campaign managers" in v3. It's like they're so in synch, and know each other so well, that once they decide to do something together they operate like clockwork.

I also like scenes of them working together in the lab, like during the Masked Man story (where they were both killed by the same explosion) or the Conspiracy story against the Time Trapper. Says a lot about their friendship, that Brainy not only tolerates but welcomes Imra in his lab!

Adv. 343

“The Evil Hand of the Luck Lords” is a well told story in spite of the flaws already mentioned (the villains’ motivation, the Super-Pets saving the day, the convenience of the emergency dive lever). It succeeds because the drama builds off the Legionnaires’ reactions to the possibility of being jinxed.

Several Legionnaires have roles to play in this story, and, unlike in most previous tales, almost no one is wasted. Superboy is there in order to justify the cover scene, and Cosmic Boy has nothing to do, except run after the “jinxed” Legionnaires for no apparent reason. Otherwise, Brainy, Dirk, and Cham each play a role in how the plot develops before they are taken out of the action, and Lyle, Vi, and Lu each get a rare chance to do something meaningful. Garth and Imra are typically center-stage, but they fit very naturally into their roles without taking attention away from the others. Even ex-Legionnaires Thom and Chuck contribute something. (Jan, however, is more of a “red shirt” supernumerary; he prevents Vi from being squashed, but anyone could have done that.)

In addition to giving each featured Legionnaire something to do, the story plays off of childhood fears of bad luck. It develops the conflict in a credibile manner, with the Legionnaires reflecting on their mishaps of the past and experiencing new mishaps. Some invisible force is out to get the Legionnaires; how can they fight back?

Even some of the "flaws" are integrated well into the story. The Super-Pets, for example, are introduced when they play with the Proty jinx stone early—this form of foreshadowing that prepares the reader for their role in the story better than in some of their previous appearances.. We’re also spared thought balloons from the Super-Pets. They act more or less like animals in this story.

One might suppose the emergency dive would come in handy if the ship had to avoid a meteor or the Death Star, but it is awfully conveniently placed.

Paladin makes a good point that Imra’s deduction about Thaun is unearned. That probably is the weakest point in the story for me.

What works best, though, is the sense of mystery, how it escalates, and how it is finally resolved. I’ve always thought it was a mature realization on the Legionnaires’ part that Garth losing his arm, etc., were simply accidents. No conspiracy of back luck here. Just life.

Unlike the stories surrounding it (342, 344-45), “The Evil Hand of the Luck Lords” contains no major changes and does not contribute to the legacy of the Legion in a significant way. However, it is a well told tale that gives us a reason to care about our heroes, builds drama, and resolves it in a fairly satisfying manner. Using the rubric I posted elsewhere, this story would earn a 90.7 or A-.

You all realize: next issue sets up what is probably the most selfless act not in just Legion, but in ALL history!!!

I'm getting verklemmt.

True. And this is why I prefer novels these days.



I think you've hit the nail on the head. All of these things were certainly part of the appeal comics held for me.



I agree about the value of getting to see the story. Comics are a different medium than prose and, like film, they communicate the story in different ways than prose does. The best uses of comics as a medium convey information in the art that is not in the writing, and vice versa. It's the synergy (as someone else mentioned) that makes comics unique.

The reason I get more enjoyment reading comics rather than prose is that in a comic the artist takes care of the visuals, allowing the author to concentrate on story elements such as plot and characterization without getting bogged down in flowery descriptions of the visual environment (which I find tedious to the extreme in most cases, especially when it goes on for pages at a time, as it often does in a prose novel).

Not every novelist gets bogged down with description, Hermit. The best writers know how to integrate description with the action so the former fleshes out the latter. I've read only two Harry Potter books, but they both seemed to achieve that balance.

I get more enjoyment from re-reading the stories in these Archives than I get from 99% of new comics today.

Amen, Brother.

I agree, googoomuck. It's been awhile since I've read a recent comic, but, when I did, I was not impressed.

Part of it may be because I've changed. But I also think Marvel and DC have changed. They are interested in appealing to a younger audience which has been raised on video games and demands an explosion every five minutes to keep them interested. At least that's how it seems.

Re: the Luck Lords - this story was a good look at mass hysteria or the power of suggestion and how people tend to see patterns in events, whether they truly exist or are random.

It's ironic that the Luck Lords turned out to be criminal scientists with a fancy gizmo. They could have been powerful, long-lasting adversaries if they had truly had some supernatural power over good and bad luck.

If there was ever a role for Calamity King, it would have been for him to tag along with the Legionnaires and bring down the Luck Lords with his power of inducing catastrophe, or one might say, bad luck.

I wonder if the Super-Pets are immune to Calamity King's power, just as they are immune to some other forces. We never really got an explanation of how his power might work.

Wow, lot's of missed opportunities pointed out on this story and I hadn't even considered if the pets would be immune to CK's power.

Didn't the Luck Lords get a good turn later with the Lightning Lad story? Wasn't that an annual? Now that the boxes are accessible, I'll have to look up what issue that was.

Prose versus graphic novels

Novels too thick. Have little-bitty letters. Me like picture books. I would compare short stories to graphic novels. About the same sit-down time. My preference is strongly influenced by what is available at the library, and that would be prose. I'm sure if there were more graphic novels, that would be my direction of reading.

Stories, I just enjoy or don't but with graphic novels, when the art and story are well married, it's magic to me. Besides, reading novels my eyes are more likely to lose focus or a huge floater goes by during a tense read, it takes me right out of the mood. That's not so much a problem with the less-linear read of a graphic novel.

Adventure #344

Prior to Legion World, I had never given the Super Stalag of Space the proper attention it deserved. However, numerous posts by Lash, Eryk and others helped bring the story and various characters in it to prominence in LSH fandom and I took notice. I reread it twice, once in '04 or so and again circa '06-07, and I really soaked it all in. And you know--it's pretty damn excellent!

This is Ed Hamilton's final Legion story, and it's a doozy. Hamilton is my favorite Silver Age LSH writer and a candidate for my favorite Legion writer in general. He added so much to the mythos (and comics in general). Seeing him go marks a major change or the LSH; ending on such a high note makes it stand out as a great moment.

What strikes me the most is how dark this story gets. Not only is there a constant build up of distress and despair, there are outright several murders! And Nardo stands out as a villain in a mold we haven't seen before: a dictator yet chaotic and unpredictable; full of hate; mean spirited and cracking jokes. He's basically like the Joker! (The modern one). As has been said many times, it's a huge shame he hasn't returned again and again!

The story also stands out for introducing so many new characters, even though most don't live through it (and many go unnamed like the females, unfortunately--I've often speculated this might include a teenage Xera, Silver Sword or others). Shadow Kid would go on to a great comic book career, while Blockade Boy is honored by our resident poster. And Plant Lad has become my favorite because of "Matter-Eater Lad: the Series" by our resident Lash & Ester. Meanwhile, I tend to not think about that traitor, Weight Wizard.

The story starts out great: suspense leading to immediate action! Things have already taken place prior to panel #1 and that only makes me more interested.

On page 4, panel 1, we see him: Nardo, the ugliest, most evil looking villain yet! Great panel placement by Hammy & Swan! We quickly learn a few oddball things: he speaks in the third person! He has an army of robot guards that look just like him! And he's sworn eternal warfare against all those that uphold the law!!

The LSH are caught and find Brainy who takes the time to say that's as helpful as a sharp stick in the eye. Nice one, Brainy! We then meet the aforementioned heroes of other worlds.

We then see Superboy, only to learn its really a Durlan, who then makes a break for it, who is then killed! Bam! The killing begins. One has to assume this was a long winded way to replicate the cover drawn beforehand. Either way, it's kind of a cool sequence.

From there, it looks like things are heading in the direction of the great POW Camp movies of the 60's, as Brainy is elected escape officer. But Nardo has eyes and ears inside! Brainy is then tortured in a really well done sequence showing disorientation and loss of sense of self.

Plant Lad is the next to crack which is too bad as he has that groovy mid-60's hair like he's one of the Beatles or Byrds!

I love that Tenz and Blockade Boy create an unlikely partnership to escape! Though the cliffhanger ending is a doozy! In recent issues we've seen numerous tragedies befall Legionnaires and then all issue we've seen several murders. Readers must have been going nuts with worry that Tenz might get killed.

Also, I love that last splash page of all the girls! So much going on and so many unnamed characters. With a tweak of hair color the yellow haired girl could be Xera. And perhaps the red dress girl with her back to us is Silver Sword sans armor?

All in all, one hell of a tense issue and I can't wait for Part 2!

Certainly many do. Edgar Rice Burroughs was a master of keeping the story going, blazing a path for later authors such as Heinlein and Anderson and more recently Rowlings, Patterson and King.

Still, these are more the exception than the rule, and I've found that I enjoy a Neil Gaiman comic more than a Neil Gaiman book (to use an example of an author who is successful in both fields).

Adventure #334:

After a few months of not buying any comics at all (mainly for financial reasons), I use my birthday money to pick up the latest issues of Adventure (333 and 334), my favorite of the titles I had discovered the previous year. I am immediately struck by the similarities in cover coloring between the two issues. Both have a predominance of the color gray with Superboy in the foreground and everyone else standing around doing nothing. Even the Adventure logos are similar, with yellow lettering against a red background (at least the bars at the top and bottom are different colors). This is the only time I can think of that they used the same logo color scheme for back to back issues.

Some of Hamilton's best stories were inspired by previously existing stories from other media (Moby Dick, Mutiny on the Bounty, etc), and this one, which owes its existence to Stalag 17, is perhaps the best of the lot. Also notable is the fact that this story was published during the first season of Hogan's Heroes, the only season that show made the Nielsen top 10 list.

Do we ever find out how Brainy got captured in the first place?

Page four: our first look at Nardo. He'd be a bit scarier without the buck tooth, but the three eyes are definitely creepy.

Saturn Girl takes command of the rescue mission, a role she is accustomed to, both as former (two-term) leader and currently deputy to the captured Brainy. What's even cooler is Rokk's natural leadership abilities coming into play during the mission itself, something we have not seen much of since his own term as team leader.

Unfortunately the mission itself fails. Rokk then states the obvious and is called out on it by Brainy with a retort that has to have been inserted by Mort's assistant E. Nelson Bridwell (who was probably doing more actual editing than Mort at that point, although never getting credit for it). "...poke in the eye with a sharp stick" has Mad Magazine written all over it.

I'd have to go back through some previous letter pages to be sure, but I believe Plant Lad, Shadow Kid, Blockade Boy and Weight Wizard were all reader suggestions.

This is, to my knowledge, the first time we've seen any other Durlan than Chameleon Boy (R.J. Brande has not yet been introduced, let alone retconned). With what we now know about Durla itself I'd really like to know this guy's backstory. Note how Reep immediately bonds with him without any indication that they have previously met. Could this indicate a tribal connection, perhaps?

You know, as a 13-year-old reading this for the first time I found Nardo's androids scarier than Nardo himself. I wonder why that was?

More Bridwell-style dialogue in Brainy's interrogation scene indicates to me that Mort was becoming more and more concerned with what Stan Lee was doing over at Marvel, especially with characterization, and was having Nelson spice up Hamilton's scripts with more hip dialogue (Hamilton generally being more inclined to use dialogue for exposition rather than characterization).

Curt Swan's imaginative monsters seem a bit silly-looking now, but were probably scarier to Mort's target audience of eight-year-olds at the time. On the other hand the next page, with all the Brainy face shots, and especially the two bottom panels showing his exhaustion and anger is classic Swan.

Interesting how the guy Brainy suspects of being a traitor does indeed turn out to be one (as revealed in #345). Most modern comics would have had it turn out to be someone else entirely, maybe even with tragic results. Ahh, the innocence of the Silver Age, even in a story with so much death.

Speaking of which, there goes Plant Lad. These androids just get scarier and scarier with their willingness to kill three of their own just to take down one teenage kid.

Next it's Cham's turn. The attempt is not successful, but does reveal a crucial bit of information that will be the key to freeing the female inmates in part two. This leads to another bit of Bridwell-style dialogue: "I know when I'm licked" (I so badly want to add "all over", being a fan of both Frank Zappa and the Turtles). Brainy then demonstrates his own force of personality, probably saving Cham's life in the process. Nice work, Brainy!

Somehow I never thought of Tenzil as the type to say "I can't take this any longer." "I'm tired of this shit" or maybe "Screw this, I'm outta here" is more his style. I suppose we can chalk it up to "chronicler's error"

Finally we get to see what's going on with the female members and, surprise surprise, Saturn Girl looks like she's already got a plan in motion. More on this next issue...

Finally, the big cliffhanger arrives. But wait! Right in front of Tenzil's left shin is a little box with the words "the end". Huh?

Of course, throughout the book we are treated to various extras, including the Kat from AMT (I was never a fan of their models, preferring cars whose wheels actually turned), Cap's hobby hints (not that I actually followed them), and Health Myths Debunked (which I read just days before stepping on a board with a nail sticking out of it myself). Sadly, there are no Henry Boltinoff strips in this issue. I guess they needed the space for the Rocky and Bullwinkle Cheerios ad.

Following a typically forgettable Superboy "Hall of Fame Classic" we have the letter column, which is notable for Bridwell's answer to Barry Katz concerning the publishing history of Adventure Comics (you don't really think Mort would have bothered to look that stuff up, do you?), as well as some interesting Bits of Legionnaire Business. Wasn't there a discussion of Speed Lad (or someone like him) on the LW boards recently? Both SL and Incredible Boy are quite original ideas that I bet a good writer could do some interesting things with.

(Yes, I just ended this post with a dangling participle. I always wanted to do that.)

ADV 344

A time traveler recently asked me why I chose "Blockade Boy." Apparently, there's another BB out there, something to do with fashion? Lol, I must be that BB's evil mirror.

Set the Scene

Signing up for the old-old DC boards (mid 90s?), Ferro Lad was taken. BB was my next thought. I read these stories AFTER ADV346-347 (my first) and this is interesting to me because as an 8 year old and in my mid 30's I gravitated I guess towards the sacrificial hero. Let the psychoanalysis commence. The Great Escape is one of my favorites all-time.

Clearly anyone saying ANYTHING negative about this story risks a Super Fat Azzing!

Holocaust and Cold War were still a big part of our lives then. Even little kids couldn't avoid the tense air. Everyday another story out of Vietnam. The news stories were "positive" but we knew big kids were not in the neighborhood and a few, weren't coming back. We "knew" this was a war against someone who hated us and our way. Russia wanted to bomb us. China was coming. Spain was fascist. France was sketchy. "Reds" were literally, in the neighborhood.

This story was chilling in a chilling time.

Hippy language (really beat-nik I think), does it distract? Much of our pop-culture was coming out of Manhattan and Hollywood (Gilligan, Batman, Beach movies...) so it doesn't surprise me that I find the patois in the story doesn't seem out of line with that from readers in the Legion Outpost. It was fed to us through movies and tv and comics. We talked that way. It doesn't annoy me and generally brings up good memories. However, it seemed an ill fit in this story.

The language did not fit and does not fit.

Most classics I feel don't mess with. Super Stalag is a story I have to believe would stand up well under a re-make. I would really like to see a re-make, not modernized but told from the reality of that mid-60s perspective. To use yet another cliche, there was something in the air. Reflect it.

Cobie mentions how much this story ended up contributing to Legion mythos. Anyone else like me on the other side of the fence? Maybe I'm missing things but until the boards, this story seemed to have been totally forgotten and never really had the affects it deserved to have. A re-make might give it another shot at meeting potential?

I'm not sure that comic book writers make the best novelists. Having written both comic book scripts and novels, I can ascertain that they are very different disciplines. Writers who have mastered one may flounder at the other.

I recall that when Gene Roddenberry launched Star Trek, he invited well known science fiction authors to submit scripts. But some who were used to writing prose could not adjust to the strict format and visual requirements of a TV script. Others had trouble "dumbing down" or simplifying their stories to meet network television requirements.

Adv. 344

It’s hard to give “The Super-Stalag of Space” a balanced review because of its historical significance, because it’s Hamilton’s last Legion story, and because I want to avoid a Super Fat Azzing. – but also because there is so much good in it. Unfortunately, I feel much of that good is borrowed from other sources.

It’s well accepted among Legion fans that this story was inspired by Stalag 17, Hogan’s Heroes, and possibly The Great Escape, although “inspired” seems too mild a word. “Super-Stalag” reads exactly like one of those prisoner-of-war stories with the Legionnaires shoehorned into roles to fit the plot. Why, none of the Legionnaires even bother to use their super-powers until Page 13, even though Cham and Invisible Kid could have gone into a super-powered defense mode before the guards were upon them on Page 5. For much of this story, the Legionnaires might as well be non-powered soldiers.

Adding to the prison tropes, we’ve got CLANGing alarms at the Legion clubhouse and even a message in a bottle on Page 2. (While the bottle might be discovered if the prisoner who sent it was incarcerated in, say, Alcatraz, it’s really stretching suspension of disbelief to have bottle picked up in space, at least during Brainy’s lifetime.)

In short, this feels like one of those Mr. Magoo cartoons in which Mr. Magoo is playing the part of Blackbeard or some other historical figure. You know it’s Mr. Magoo all along, but it’s not a Mr. Magoo story.

But there is a lot of earned good, as well, with Brainy’s interrogation scene being at the top of the list. Not only is the mental torture frightening, but it gives Brainy a chance to demonstrate his super-smarts by seeing through the illusions.

Another earned good is the story’s refusal to pull punches in showing how sadistic and murderous Nardo is. I’ve always felt sorry for Plant Lad. He must have known his actions would lead to his death. He must have reached a point where death was preferred to staying a prisoner.

Furthermore, this story ends with not one but two cliffhangers—what’s going to happen to Matter-Eater Lad and Blockade Boy, and who’s the traitor? I first read this story in a reprint (Superboy # 202) when I was ten, and I was delighted that Part 2 was included in the same issue. I don’t think I could have stood it if I’d had to wait another month for the resolution.

Because it is a mixture of both original and borrowed ideas, and because that hip lingo is occasionally distracting, “The Super-Stalag of Space” earns 85 percent, a solid B.

This story was indeed updated and sort of combined with The Outlawed Legion (back in the 90s?) With Universo in the role of Nardo.

I'm not sure what to say about this one. And not for bad reasons at all--I thought it was actually very good! I'm just not sure what to say about "Super-Stalag" that hasn't already been said here. Basically, it was the Legion in a seriously bleak situation against arguably their most evil and sadistic for to date. And I thought it worked very much.

I'd forgotten what Nardo's powers were, if any. Though they're ill-defined, I can see how a reader at the time could have very well been horrified by them as Nardo's powers are equated with the very real horror of nuclear warfare that was constantly hanging over their heads. And the guy was probably pretty creepy-looking for the time, to boot. Even in his comparative goofiness to more horrifying alien visions to come, there's still that germ of something that remains viscerally disturbing about the way Swan draws Nardo to this day. I'm sure this isn't hurt in the least by his cold-blooded lack of mercy and sadistic streak.

I think the early inaction by the Legionnaires is understandable due to the way Nardo has of keeping them off-balance, as well as their not knowing the fates of their female counterparts. They would naturally have to proceed with caution faced with such formidable power and not knowing if the girls and other prisoners would be endangered by their actions.

The only problem I have in the whole story is the use of "Superboy". I don't mind the other Durlan's presence, but his death would have paid off the cover much better if the Legionnaires hadn't known it wasn't Superboy when he died. Certainly, Hamilton played fair with the readers here, but it feels like a missed opportunity either to have that nice shock or to have at least let us see the other Durlan in his true form. If I were Hamilton, I would've killed off Plant Lad first and the Durlan later to develop Cham and his fellow Durlan better. All in all, it feels like the Durlan should've been a bigger deal, one way or any number of others.

Hm. On further thought, I have another problem. It sure seemed like the Legionnaires should have come to Plant Lad's aid, doesn't it? You can chalk up the Durlan incident to shellshock, plus it was outside the gates, but Plant Lad's death happened right in their midst. They don't come heroic at all there.

But that was Hamilton's storytelling conceit. He wanted them imprisoned long enough so that he could hit all the story beats he had planned, so that dictated what happened. But honestly, a writer HAS to explain why his heroes wouldn't jump to another's aid in that situation! So in an otherwise excellent story, with the Durlan thing now being a minor caveat, the incident with Plant Lad actually harms the story. Even if you have a specific story to tell, always make sure your characters actions (or inactions in this case) make sense and are true to their essence. I believe Hamilton failed in that scene.

I guess I had a few things to say, after all!

Nardo's third eye has the power of deus ex machina! It can untie a gordian knot. It can fight Chuck Norton to a standstill (for a certain amount of time).


Chilling!

It seemed rather silly to me that Nardo didn't even confiscate their flight rings. Cham still had his to give to the other Durlan. Why didn't they just fly away? Especially the girls who Nardo wasn't really watching. DD has to use a makeshift ladder to climb the fence in part II, but why would he take the girls' rings and not the boys?

I don't even remember how this one ends? I think I'll read 345 today.

I thought they did a fair job of showing the results and lack of success of trying to escape and it was an asteroid. Where will they go? He didn't seem to need to suppress their powers so I'm thinking, why worry about the rings? The ladder thing is a puzzle. I'd have to make up a really stretched reason for why she had a ladder, let alone used a ladder.

Nardo's a genius nut obsessed with law"men." I don't think he's a detail guy. I think he just enjoyed the hunt really. He always seemed to know where the prisoners were once out of the compound. Probably another third eye skill.

The story does leave the reader to fill in details as they prefer but FOR ME, it's better than a six month stretch crossing t's and dotting i's and it gives us something to talk about. Writing mistakes or details left to reader imagination? The art alone is enough for me to want to read this. That view when they first approach the prison is beautiful.

I still giggle about the message bottle. I've been re-watching the star trek runs and as soon as they run into any trouble, "can't get help captain, communications are jammed." lol. If only they'd had a bottle!

I hadn't remembered that Nardo had powers either. Nuclear energy in his veins! He's so creepy - and an evil tormentor of his prisoners.

It's baffling why Nardo or his kind didn't have a return appearance. Did he have a cameo in 5YL? I think there was a L'il Nardo in the reboot (when some Legionnaires were telling their origin stories to some kids).

I don't have much to add; I've always enjoyed this story. The addition of other super-heroes, named and unnamed, adds a lot to the story. The space-bottle is kind of funny, though.

As a side-note, the Urban Dictionary has seven definitions for "nardo", none of which are very complimentary. No indication that they were inspired by this story.

#1: When a person is really fucking trashed. Could be booze, drugs, whatever. Once you start acting like a retard, you're nardo.

Marilu Henner's character on the Taxi TV series was named Elaine Nardo.

I forgot about Elaine Nardo! She was much better looking than ol' three-eyes.

Good point. The problem I have with the Legionnaires not using their powers in this story is that they are just too darned passive. Your point is well taken that they wanted time to figure out how much Nardo knew and where the girls were, but in the Plant Lad scene, they have an immediate indication of danger--and they do nothing.

As I alluded to in my post, this would make sense if the Legionnaires were non-powered soldiers who truly could do nothing. But these are heroes with powers as part of their physical beings. And no one tries to do anything.

Why, for example, don't the Legionnaires and the other heroes form a plan to simply gang up on Nardo and his androids? Why bother with all the escape plans? It's incredible that no one considers this.



I agree completely. There comes a point where, if the characters are behaving in such a way that merely serves the needs of the plot, then you (the writer) have to ask yourself if the story springs naturally from the characters actions and reactions. If not, you need to ask yourself if this is the story you need to tell.

Adventure #345

The Super Stalag of Space continues, and it marches on with the same high quality and tension of Part 1 in Part 2.

Recognizing that the readers might actually be more apt to spread the word on the story, Mort doesn't mind outright referencing Hogan's Heroes. Like other Legion adaptations of movies of the time, though, there's very little resemblance with that particular work, IMO, though it certainly draws on a whole number of different "prison camp" inspirations.

After a quick recap, the issue opens with the tragic death of Blockade Boy! The most heroic of the Stalag heroes, it's a noble end.

From there, Brainy's suspicions prove correct and he exposes Weight Wizard as the stool pigeon. I love the random blue costumed hero who yells "Kill Him!". Things are getting savage in the barracks!

Trying to make up for it, WW escapes, and then...soon enough...meets his end. It's actually my favorite death, if that isn't too crude. The sequence, of course, also further references the Phanders for later.

The next sequence features Lyle making his escape, being caught and then being shrunken to flea size...to come face to face with a spider, then a mouse. It's a tension filled scene, though I have to admit I'm wondering why it's included.

The girls get involved at last and once again we see Imra and Brainy having their little grudge. And Imra is proved right as Luornu has perhaps her single greatest moment in the Silver Age by saving the day!

It seems like the perfect end, complete with Jan using his powers in a clever way and Brainy being equally clever in returning the favor by freeing the girls. And then, out of nowhere we get the last two pages which really don't have a place here! Supes, Mon and Jo show up to save Tenzil (ugh, again) and then in a weird bit of science, Tenz becomes super-fat! Obviously this entire sequence is a last minute effort to add in the scene on the cover.

Cow-towing to readers demands for an overweight Legionnaire, they get it wrong by making it Tenzil, which is as dumb as making Star Boy black or Projectra a snake.

Notwithstanding the final 2 pages, part 2 was an action packed romp that delivered on a variety of levels. Using a smaller group of Legionnaires--though still a lot of them--Hamilton combines strong characterization with great action for a very solid finish to his run. A Silver Age classic, and it's adieu to Ed, who very shortly now enjoyed a nice retirement with his equally talented wife, Leigh Brackett.

Why didn't the Legionnaires use their powers to escape or take over? Were the reasons depicted or not? Did they need to be? Interesting topic.

Legionnaires weren't the first powered beings/heroes on the asteroid. Those heroes apparently hadn't been able to or decided not to escape or take over the prison.

To continue the earlier parallels, much the same was said about the Jews gathered up and contained, while watching themselves be massacred. There were plenty of heroes in those camps and ghettos. They had superior numbers and strength.

Someone recently asked me why people in the neighborhood I teach don't just up and leave to someplace safer? Why don't they fight back?

Why didn't the heroes escape? Why didn't they take over? History says, hard to do even when numbers and power are superior.

To ME, the writers did depict Nardo's power. They depicted the nuclear power, the weapons, the androids, the eye.

More importantly, the writers IMO, depicted how organized and ruthless he was. They depicted his psychology: what happens to those that tried to escape, those left behind, and the fear instilled in the camps. He had chosen an asteroid rich with dangerous plants and animals. There was nowhere for an escapee to go. No way to get off asteroid. No way to get food and shelter. Given how easily Nardo found those that escaped, I would conjecture he allowed some to escape so that he could kill them in front of the other prisoners.

In stories and in real life, power isn't the key to containment or to escape. Organization, psychology, mutual support, mutual agreement are the keys. I thought this was adequately, even well, depicted by the writers. It is ultimately what the Legion brought to the camps but first, the spy had to be found.

Why Nardo even bothered to enslave them was the puzzle left unexplained. I can only presume it fed his ego to have those law"men" under his power.


ADV 345

First off: DOH!!!


Obviously powers were quite helpful at breaking in as... it took U-Boy, S-boy and Monel only an instant to resolve the situation. And who doesn't keep their kryptonite ring gun that will kill anyone whether they are from Krypton or not, at finger's length? Definite plot hole.

There are hiccups all over the story but the heroes not using their powers to escape or take over? To ME, the reasons they couldn't do that are clear from history and were clearly depicted. It was chilling to realize, particularly at that time of our history that power wasn't the key.

The Legionnaires did not bring power to the equation. They brought organization. Organization sent the bottle. Organization took over the camps. Ultimately organization left the message that allowed them to be found.

Nardo was THAT powerful but ultimately he was out organized.

There were a number of acts of resistance and escape attempts and all were thwarted, followed by punishment. Nardo proved that he wasn't all talk; he executed prisoners. It took a while for the Legionnaires to find the chink in the armor and exploit it.

That Weight Wizard turned spy for extra food made sense in theory, but nobody looked very hungry - nothing like in the Nazi camps. It might have been better if Nardo had been holding his family or friends hostage. Well, maybe Weight Wizard was just a glutton. In the end, he who would eat was eaten, in a nifty little irony.

For all the "too dangerous for a girl" stuff that preceded this story, Hamilton redeemed himself by showing the females to be inventive, proactive, successful and able to co-ordinate with the male prisoners. It's just disappointing that the other female prisoners didn't get to show their powers as did the non-Legionnaire males.

The shrunken Lyle sub-plot took up 2-1/2 pages and really didn't accomplish much, except to make him look bad.

I was actually a bit annoyed that the three super-heavyweights arrived at the last moment to defeat Nardo; it would have been more satisfying had it just been the people taken prisoner.

Nardo's speech did detract from his evilness; he sounded more like Colonel Klink than the truly sadistic jailer he proved himself to be.

In the end, Nardo was returned to the planet that had exiled him. Would they incarcerate him this time, or just exile him again?

Maybe the story was considered too serious, despite its positive outcome, so they added the fat-assed Tenzil at the very end. I'm curious to know what the fan reaction was to that scene!

One of the reasons the Jews didn't fight back in the holocaust is because the Nazis didn't just start out wholesale slaughtering them. They gradually dehumanized them by taking away their rights little by little. They started with small things: No Jews were allowed to own bicycles. then cars. then carpeting in their homes, then they took their jobs away, etc. etc. If Nardo did that to the inmates of the super stalag we didn't see it.

A couple of other things bothered me about this story, aside from the heroes not using their powers or flight rings to escape. Where did the dozens of boy inmates depicted in part I go in part II? After BB and WW's deaths, the only one left is Shadow Kid (and he was miscolored from how he looked in part I). How exactly did DD improvise that ladder? She could've torn her cape into strips and used them to tie fallen tree limbs together, but she's never shown without her cape. I was disappointed in the big 3 coming to the rescue at the end after the other heroes had already escaped, but what else is new?

The Sannings came up with a good explanation for why ME Lad got fat on their website. IIRC, they theorized that Superboy's body deflected most of the power of the ray blasts, so that instead of killing Tenz, they slowed down his metabolism so much that the tons of earth and stone he'd previously been metabolizing made him obese.

So they're saying ME Lad

had rock hard abs?

lol, I amuse me.

I felt part two was pretty much superior to part one, mainly because it didn't have a big "wtf" moment like part one's death of Plant Lad as Legionnaires stood by and did nothing.

Lu's "improvised" ladder wasn't a big deal to me. The text makes it clear she didn't just find it, and who knows how much time elapsed between panels 2 and 3 on that page? No reason our girl Lu might not have some advanced outdoor survival skillz, right?

The last minute rescue by the Big Three didn't bother me that much. The explanation for their arrival was explained and made sense. Yes, I would have preferred that others'd all gotten out and beaten Nardo by their lonesome, but at least they'd made great strides before the cavalry arrived. If they'd just been licking their wounds, it would've irked me more.

I can understand why the Invisible Kid mini-(mis)adventure might seem extraneous, but I bet the kids who read it back in the day probably dug it. (Right, BB? ) Plus, it gave Lyle a fairly rare moment in the spotlight.

Two things that caught my eye as possible bloopers:

1) The duration of Ayla's power effect on the gate. It's not necessarily an error, but I can't recall her being able to keep the effect for more than a minute or so before or since. Maybe she usually just chooses not to maintain the effect, but I've always felt she would have to be present and maintaining the effect for it to last a long time. Same with Thom.

2) Why'd Jan need the dust to transform Nardo's armor? Maybe it was stated somewhere about Nardo's apparel being resistant to this sort of thing, and I missed it? I'm pretty sure Jan would normally be able to transform clothing, wouldn't he?

Neither of these affected my enjoyment of the story overall, but they did give me pause as I read.

After seeing Blockade Boy's sacrifice, I sure hope he got a memorial somewhere on Shanghalla! You could argue the same for Plant Lad and the Durlan (not so much Weight Wizard!), but BB came out looking especially heroic as he tried to save Tenzil. I liked the scene of Tenzil grieving over him. It was understated and not overwrought; it was just enough to show he was affected by the loss.

Overall, this two-parter was a strong way for Hamilton to go out. It could have been done better in places, but the story was tense and the stakes very high. This was one of the few instances in which the Legion looked really like they'd met their match to this point. It's too bad future writers didn't utilize Nardo ever again, but chances are the returns would have been diminished in subsequent appearances.

Mr. Hamilton and (belatedly) Mr. Forte, your contributions to our beloved Legion will never be forgotten by fans everywhere. Wherever you may be, I salute you!

That spider stuck with me, no kidding on that. And everything came back when I was reading it the other day.

Re Fat Tenzil, nothing really came of it. It didn't have any lasting effect on him. Was it set up so he could be written out if the next writer wished? (Oh, it's too bad our pal ME Lad got fat, now he has to resign so he can find a cure...!) Or was it set up as a possible way to get Bouncing Boy back (thank goodness Dr. Fatandthin invented a way to siphon off Tenzil's extra body fat to Chuck, so Chuck could get hsi powers back! Our two chums will be back soon! Choke!)

All good points, BB. However, the Legionnaires were not civilians going about their daily lives and being imprisoned by powers they had been conditioned to respect or fear their entire lives. They were heroes who were used to going up against bad guys.

I'm not saying the Legionnaires or the other incarcerated heroes should have openly defied Nardo. But it's odd that no one considers doing so. To me, their lack of acting like super-heroes is another instance of Hamilton shoehorning the Legionnaires into a plot that was perhaps meant for someone else.



The Legionnaires didn't know about the phanders and the man-eating plants until later--or at least the reader didn't. Likewise, Nardo's third eye heat vision isn't established until late in 345 (where it comes out of the blue).

You're right that Nardo is depicted as ruthless and organized. There are several scenes which show how efficient he is and how he exploits the prisoners' weaknesses and rebellion (such as the Invisible Kid scene). If one buys into the conceit of the Legionnaires becoming POWs, the story works very well.

It's just that I wish more effort had been expended into setting up that conceit.

I think Weight Wizard's escape attempt made the Legionnaires look worse - if he could try to escape by himself, why couldn't they at least try to intervene to stop Plant Lad from getting hacked to bits?

Adv. 345

One of the things I’ve enjoyed most about doing these reviews is the chance to revisit old stories and learn new things about them. I grew up on these mid-run Adventure stories, and they played a large role in forming who I am. Now’s the chance to enjoy them again but also to figure out why they had the impact they did and to come to a better understanding of aspects that either uplifted me or disturbed me when I first read them.

Sometimes looking at old comic book stories through adult eyes is like using a college education to outwit a second grader: doing so may make one feel superior, but it also leads to what Paladin called an unearned victory—something that’s too easy. It can also feel a bit like bullying.

Other times, these reviews can extract real gems. They demonstrate the universal importance of stories and their impact on us as human beings, as a culture, and as individuals. They help us understand why stories affect us the way they do and enable us to drill deeper into our psyches rather than settle for surface likes and dislikes.

Reviewing “The Execution of Matter-Eater Lad” leads to both results. It’s easy to pick on this story and its second-grader logic: a ray blast sliding around Superboy’s body somehow turns Tenzil super-fat. (The story even says “somehow,” as if it’s acceptable to just make up an ending and leave its cause mysterious.) It’s also easy to see that this story delved into some real fears I had as a child and, in its super-heroic way, tried to assure me everything was going to be all right—even if it did convey mixed messages.

Nardo represents the oppressive authoritarian figure—the teacher, the principal, the policeman—who exerts absolute control over his young charges (who, fittingly, are all teenagers). He tells them what they do and when to do it. Rebellion is punished severely in creative and sadistic ways. The psychological message is clear: Obey or else.

Yet we also know Nardo is the bad guy and the things he does are not right. The Legionnaires can choose to simply obey—their lives will not be easy, but they will live at least for awhile—or they can resist and face immediate death.

But resist they must—because life is not about mere survival. It is also about self-determination, love, and fulfilling one’s own potential, things denied prisoners. So they resist. They learn the identity of the traitor. They attempt to take their anger out on him and fail. Invisible Kid tries to use his own abilities to escape and fails. The girl Legionnaires try to rescue the boy Legionnaires and—though they come closest to accomplishing their goal—fail.

Ultimately, it’s the last minute arrival of Superboy, Mon-El, and Ultra Boy which saves Matter-Eater Lad’s life and frees the others. Is it any wonder Mon-El became my favorite Legionnaire? He risks nothing personally in this story (he doesn’t even get hit by Nardo’s nuclear blast), nor does he bear any responsibility for M-E Lad’s sorry condition. He arrives, as do Superboy and Ultra Boy, like an angel and the cavalry rolled into one. This is the way things are supposed to turn out. Aren’t they?

Of course, not everyone is saved. Blockade Boy dies a true hero—he buys M-E Lad time. And Weight Wizard, for all his treachery, is not evil. Which of us in his situation could honestly say we wouldn’t do the same? In the end, WW redeems himself; yet he dies alone and unmourned. Posts on this thread paint him as a villain who got his just desserts. Yet I feel sorry for him. He was weak—who among us is not weak from time to time?

But here’s where the mixed messages come in. The Legionnaires, as the main characters of the series, are spared similar fates. They neither crack under pressure (Plant Lad) nor betray their teammates (Weight Wizard). They neither die in an escape attempt (the Durlan) nor sacrifice themselves to save someone else (Blockade Boy). The only consequence any of them faces is M-E Lad’s “super-fat-assing.” It turns out to be a temporary condition, but, to a child reader, it’s a fate worse than death. M-E Lad becomes silly looking, an object of ridicule. Even the ironcially named Weight Wizard suffered a better fate.

The mixed message? If you suffer a severe fate such as death or weakness, you must not be a “main” hero. And if you suffer a minor setback such as weight gain, you’re not as good as the other kids. Heck, unless you happen to have a multitude of super-powers and travel in a gang, you’re pretty much screwed. You need the gang to save you because your own efforts are not good enough.

From an adult perspective none of that makes sense. But these are children’s stories, as many have reminded us.

“The Execution of Matter-Eater Lad” makes a solid effort to reach out to its target audience, to engage them by using contemporary slang and baseball idioms. It also takes contemporary issues—at least those that would have been familiar to the audience through TV and movies—and uses them for entertainment value. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Stories such as this can show the reader what it is like to be a prisoner of war. They can expand the reader’s vocabulary with words such as “hoosegow,” “pessimist,” and “divulged” (all in the first four pages). They can even show how women can be valuable collaborators, despite their colleagues’ “masculine ego[es].”

Adv. 345 does all of the above. It is indeed a fitting swan song (heh) to Hamilton’s tenure, and it definitely had an impact on me as a young reader. Grade: 87.6 (B+)

There were a lot of red shirts in this story.

My first post on the subject, I commented that I thought this story would benefit a re-do. I think a lot of the things posters felt should have happened, are maybe more audience appropriate now-a-days. A REALLY spot on story would have been read differently by different ages and maturities but given how hard I imagine that is to write, I think this would be a better story written to today's more mature comic reader.

I'm not saying Legionnaires should have been killed left and right but reasonably IMO, several should have been physically and/or emotionally scarred, so much so that it would require future story telling to deal with.

I agree with HWW's assessment of Weight Wizard and also thought that was the part of the story, the writers did best. I think turning a traitor into a sympathetic character, is probably a difficult story to write. How much different are traitorous actions from evil ones? Or a traitorous person from an evil one? A good story doesn't have to answer those questions but it should set them up for debate and I think the writers were successful with that.

Going back to #344 I notice that on page 13 Chameleon Boy is caught attempting to escape but on the next page his life is spared because, in the words of Nardo "I won't kill you, since you weren't trying to break out of camp".

FYI, I finally got around to reading Superboy #128, which is where Dev-Em and the Kryptonite Kid team up to battle Superboy. It turns out its just a bad dream story! So not a real appearance of Dev-Em, which is too bad.

Good catch! Why exactly did Nardo think Cham was impersonating him? To steal his three-eyed porn collection?

SOMEbody was peakin under the mattress!

I first saw this story in one of the Legion 100 page specials. Like others have said it didn't really make sense to me at the time how Nardo was able to hold the team in his camp. Nice grouping of legionaires though. Odd bit at the end with Tenz becoming fat. The explanation posted earlier about his metabolism being slowed works for me. Was this planned to be a short transformation as it ended up being or a more permanent change?

The ending sure made it seem like Tenz was supposed to remain fat!

I have a theory that Mort was, at this point in time, letting Nelson pretty much run Adventure without too much oversight (maybe deliberately giving him enough rope to hang himself with), which was why we were seeing Marvel-style changes in the Legion (Thom's expulsion, for instance). When Nelson attempted to write the Kryptonian cousins out of the strip, however, Mort decided that his assistant had gone too far and ordered him to change everything back to the way it was...immediately.

But that's a discussion for Archives #6. In the meantime we have perhaps the greatest writing debut in comics history coming up (with some additions to the roster that even Mort approved of).

Adventure #346

First thing I notice is that there are no word balloons on the cover. I had missed the Luck Lords issue, so this was pretty much a first for me (I had not yet discovered Marvel). There is, however, an intriguing cover blurb challenging me to see if I can spot the "double-crosser who sold out the Legion". How is any 13-year-old going to resist that challenge?

Before opening the book I decide it must be either the girl with the cape or the guy in the mask. They look pretty villainous to me. I guess I'll just have to buy the thing and find out.

At this point I, like many other readers, am a bit sick of Superboy hogging all the action in Legion stories, so I like Karate Kid right from the splash page. But anyway, on to the story.

We start with a nice bit showing Cosmic Boy being heroic on his way to a Legion meeting. He, of course, does the right thing and then gets chewed out for it by that creep Superboy. Who made him boss, anyway? I'm liking Karate Kid even more now, and he hasn't even made an appearance in the story yet!

(As an aside, this past winter I watched the car directly in front of me go into a spin and go off the road into a ditch on the way to work one day. I of course pulled off the road and got out to see if the driver of the car was OK, with some of my coworkers passing me by as I was walking along the road. When I finally got to work I found myself enduring some smartass remark about my lateness from one of the supervisors in front of my coworkers. Weird parallel, that.)

Oh, so Brainy appointed Superboy deputy, did he? I thought he was smarter than that. Nice touch acknowledging Star Boy's expulsion and Bouncing Boy's loss of powers, though. It's good to see some continuity in the strip.

Princess Projectra's demonstration gives even me a touch of vertigo. I find myself hoping she's not the bad guy, even if she does have a ridiculous hairstyle.

Although I don't usually notice particulars in the art, something about the inking of Nemesis Kid on page 6, panel 4 grabs me the first time I read this story. All these years later, it still catches my attention.

Wow! Cool power, NK. You'd better not be the bad guy.

At this point I'm sure the traitor must be Ferro Lad. Maybe that mask is covering up the face of a known villain. Whatever the reason, I'm not as impressed with him as I am with the others. We'll see...

Finally we have Karate Kid. Karate itself is just starting to become popular in the US (the Green Hornet TV series with Bruce Lee as Kato is still a few months away), so the character has a bit of cutting-edge coolness built into him. He gets nearly a full four pages to show his stuff (against Superboy, no less!), making him the focus for the rest of the story pretty much by default.

Before getting to part two we have a Cap's hobby hint (which I never tried myself, having stopped buying a building model cars the previous summer) and the latest Direct Currents, which of course I have to stop and look at. Hmmm...I think the only one of these I bought was JLA 46 (the annual JLA/JSA team-ups being my favorite issues of that title).

Back to the story. Boy, KK and Superboy really trashed the meeting room, didn't they? Once again we get some weird tech lag, as the Legionnaires watch a FILM! I'm sure my uncle with Kodak stock wishes that future had come to pass instead of the actual one where Kodak filed Chapter 11 a couple years ago. Anyway, the film itself is interrupted by the Khunds, who look an awful lot like TOS-style Klingons, with their vaguely Mongolian look. Nice of them to tell the Legionnaires that they had spies in the U.P. You'd think that, as long as they're being so helpful and all they could clue the Legion in that one of their new members is a Klingon, er Khund, spy as well, but no, our heroes are just going to have to learn that one the hard way.

Anyway, we are quickly introduced to the electro-towers that Superboy recently helped erect (apparently he doesn't sleep, as he manages to do all this stuff in the 30th century without missing a beat in his own time) and the legionnaires split into teams, with Superboy doing his familiar flyover patrol.

We get some good use of powers from both Tinya and Rokk in the next few pages. Tinya at first seems a bit bitchy, but then again, if I were the longest serving non-founder in the group and some rookie tried to tell me my job I'd probably react the same way. Guess I can't blame her for being a bit suspicious of KK's motivations. Sure enough, when the two of them return to the tower, they find it in ruins. Doesn't look good for the new kid.

The last few pages are among my favorites, as Rokk and Tinya go about gathering as much information as they can without alerting KK to their suspicions. Both legionnaires show more characterization in these three pages than in the entire Hamilton/Siegel run. I find myself thinking (even as a 13-year-old) that KK as the bad guy is a bit too obvious. I decide to stick with my theory that it's really the guy in the mask. At this point we have not yet been told about Ferro Lad's deformed features (we only have his own statement that he is a mutant) and I didn't learn the real behind-the-scenes reason for Ferro Lad's mask until many years later.

All in all this story engaged me as no previous Legion story had, and it was a long 30 day wait to see how it all turned out.

The letters page in this issue is of particular interest, by the way. The first letter is from a Jeff Greenberg, the reader who submitted the idea for Color Kid. Could this be the same Jeff Greenberg who did all the research for Crisis On Infinite Earths? The editorial reply is also interesting, as it acknowledges the creators of Weight Wizard and Blockade Boy from the previous story (your creator's name is Tom Kegley, BB). There are also letters from the prolific Irene Vartanoff (praising the change of artist from Forte to Swan) and a pair of decidedly hostile letters concerning the expulsion of Star Boy.

Finally, a reader named Trudy Jones points out that the two leaders so far (Saturn Girl and Brainiac 5) were both prominently featured even before their terms began and suggests that maybe its time for one of the lesser-used members such as Matter-Eater Lad, Duo Damsel or Invisible Kid to get a shot. Mort (or Nelson) does not contradict the first assertion, leading me to conclude that Rokk's turn as leader was actually a retcon, and replies that one of the three that Ms. Jones suggests will indeed be the next leader (as we all know it was IK).

This issue also contains a Meet The Legionnaires feature that is, to my knowledge, the only one that lists Star Boy and Dream Girl as subs (and Nemesis Kid as an active member), as well as the annual circulation statement, stating that the total average paid circulation of Adventure Comics over the past year had been 510,521 copies, including subscriptions. My, how things have changed.

Ferro Lad. I remember thinking he seemed to be the weak link of the four - sure, his power to turn into iron is mighty but it's nothing that Superboy or Ultra Boy can't already do.

Princess Projectra was mighty regal, as befits a princess, but she also struck me as being different from all the other Legionnaires save Saturn Girl! There's just something about her - stern but not cold. I think it was a combination of the art, dialogue and her amazing power demonstration that just made her stand out so well!

I agree that Tinya seemed bitchy, but I remember thinking that it wasn't an unfounded bitchiness and was forgivable.

All in all a great story, and the tension, conflict and mystery did not seem forced at all!

Adventure #346

Adv 346-347 is a major milestone in Legion history for a number of reasons. To me, the "Shooter 4" Legionnaires being inducted into the Legion is one the iconic moments ever in Legion history. This is enhanced by how these four characters would have such a dramatic history going forward, and how intertwined that would be. It's helped even more by the fact that this is an excellent story.

Something else else we didn't really note was that the Computo story was the last Legion story to feature Jerry Siegel in any sort of writing role; he'd soon leave DC a second time, file a lawsuit and take on a more antagonistic role. With Ed Hamilton and Otto Binder retiring, Mort was bringing in new blood, like E. Nelson Bridwell; and of course as all fans know--almost entering the realm of legend now--he brought in a 13 year old Jim Shooter. While the stories of cranky old Mort pestering a child to write the Legion are interesting, what's even more interesting is that the stories are so damn good! (And I'd say, his teenage stories remain Shooters best throughout his long career).

These issues mark the start of a transitionary period for the Legion that basically separates the first part of the Silver Age from the latter part. This transition starts here with the intro of Shooter & the 4 new Legionnaires, continues for another two issues, and then continues with Bridwell's epic story that basically undoes much of the terrible tragedies that has befallen the Legion prior to Shooter--almost as if they were wiping the slate clean and starting from zero again. The following story, the Death of Ferro Lad, formally starts the second part of the Silver Age, which is decidedly different in tone and style, much more similar to Marvel Comics though still seeped in Legionness.

One of the most amazing things about Shooter is how many Legion concepts he created during this period that had major parts to play in the next 40+ years. Not only does he introduce "the 4", he introduces the Khunds in this story! He'll continue to introduce villains and alien races at an amazing rate.

Then there's so much to be said for "the 4" themselves. Nemesis Kid being the traitor, and then continuing on in future stories makes him incredibly interesting; Ferro Lad's death created a genuine mystique around his character. Princess Projectra, as a princess, added something different to the mix (and though only ever subtly implied character wise, brought an implicit element of sexiness in her look). And Karate Kid shines from day one--here and throughout the rest of Shooter's term. This era is why KK is one of my favorite Legionnaires, and it's amazing Shooter was ahead of his time, about 6 years or so before the Kung-fu craze really "exploded" in the US. What really makes them even more interesting is that they're all tied together: Nemesis Kid betrays them, after pinning it on Karate Kid; Ferro Lad dies with Princess Projectra on the mission; Val & Jeckie fall in love; NK and KK have a longstanding grudge; NK almost kills KK who then dies in the same exact way Ferro Lad did, Jeckie kills NK. It's almost Shakespearen!

The opening splash and subsequent Karate Kid scenes provide the perfect intro to the character as it applies cold, 13 year old logic: "how do I get the fans to like a karate based hero in the Legion?" "Have him kick Superboy's ass."

The story then opens with Cos rushing to a meeting, and in the process having to strain himself to save someone. Right here, we see the influence of Marvel. Almost all of their Silver Age stories started this way, which was the direct influence of Jack Kirby, who didn't like drawing quiet set-up scenes. Mort must have been thrilled.

Superboy is appointed Deputy here, which later fans and writers will interpret as being the start of Brainy's second term.

It's noteworthy that there's a big change in the depiction of the meeting room (previously a regular table) / tryout area (previously on the lawn outside). Now it's in a room with the Legionnaires up high on pedestals.

Projectra is introduced in one of the greatest sequences showing illusion powers ever. Highly effective by Swan & Klein!

Nemesis Kid is next, though his power has never made much sense without considering it magic. Still, great costume.

Ferro Lad is next and he gets by on look alone! Looking mysterious and almost scary-like, one can't help but want to know more about him.

And then of course KK, with the aforementioned whooping he gives Superboy.

The Khunds are introduced, and while nothing too ground breaking, we see the beginning of the infiltration plot. Waiting until now to introduce it is a good move, letting readers realize they've made a huge error.

As the action begins, Cos takes charge in his typical way, much to Tinya's chagrin. Well she ain't having that work Val--she gives that tenderfoot some what for and gets on with things. We then see both PG and Cos being heroic, especially Cos. I think Shooter always liked him quite a bit.

Both Tinya and Cos get more screen time as they argue over Val being a traitor--really great stuff! The dialogue is strait forward and combative, without being melodramatic. Part 1 ends with the tension cranked up and I can't wait for part 2.

Also noteworthy: this is the first full length Legion story! (Re: no back-ups). The extra room definitely helps enhance the experience.

Also: the Statement of Ownership shows 520,440 sold copies of the series on average in 1965, which is immense. The Legion was the best selling team book in comics in the 60's and very few series hit these numbers.

This issue also has a "Meet the Legionnaires" piece which is fascinating because it included Nemesis Kid!

Bonus Lettercol Review: Jeff Greenberg, creator of Color Kid writes in again, and Mort confirms Color Kid has joined the Subs!

Meanwhile, the controversy rages on about whether Superboy is hogging all the covers.

Mort then promises a reader the next Legion Leader will not be an overdone hero like Brainy or Imra, implying he's had many such complaints.

D'oh...the number I posted (510,521) was the single nearest issue to filing date.

Also of note was the editorial reply to Ernest Pryor's letter suggesting other Superman family artists take a shot at the Legion. Mort (or Nelson) mentions that this issue is done by Sheldon Moldoff and that George Papp may soon being doing one as well. Any mention of the creative people in a letter column in a Weisinger book was, IMO, cause for celebration, as Mort was notorious for not putting credits in the stories themselves. In fact, I would not be at all surprised to learn it was E. Nelson Bridwell writing the letter columns at this point. Anyone have any info on that?

What's amazing that the actual print number is close to 600,000--meaning they ended up destroying like 80,000 copies a month!

Average print run was 757,000 copies, with 236,418 "office use, left over, unaccounted, spoiled after printing" copies floating around. That's a lot of uncirculated comics!

You're not kidding! Yeesh. I always imagine there's like 100,000 laying around in some storage boxes at Mort's great nephews garage or something.

Also, great to hear your initial thoughts on the story when you first read it, particularly thinking Ferro Lad has to be the traitor given his look. He really does look very "Executioner-ish" in this opening intro. He's also larger and more broad-shouldered than any Legionnaire besides Superboy, which is very noticeable. It gives him a possible menacing feel.

I didn't get to read many of these earlier stories, so I do kind of appreciate how the Reboot gave us a second chance to get to see characters like Ferro Lad (and Invisible Lyle, and Triplicate Girl, who had been pretty much written out of the classic continuity by then).

I've always been a big fan of super-characters who turn into stuff, whether it be metal or gas clouds or pure energy.

I'm at work, so I don't have the issue handy, but wasn't Cham trying to break INTO Nardo's command post to find out what happened to the girls, rather than trying to break OUT of camp?

Swan/Klein didn't draw this issue. I believe it was pencilled by Shooter and inked by Moldoff(?). Their artwork was a terrible disappointment to me after opening the gorgeous Swan cover.

Was it really Shooter, though? I've seen him credited before on this issue but he never ended up doing any other artwork in his entire career, right? What's the story behind his drawing this issue then? That never made sense to me.

Lyle, Luornu, and Ferro were among the Legionnaires who got a huge renaissance in the SW6 era and in the Postboot.

Tenzil was another character who blossomed in the 5 Years Later and SW6 eras.

Just goes to show that every character has a great deal of potential under the right pen.

BTW, I do know of at least one other occasion where Shooter did some artwork, which was when he was EIC of Marvel and there was a huge rush job on 3 issues of Peter Parker: the Spectacular Spider-Man. But I believe the story goes that Shooter basically did some *very rough* pencil layouts with Jim Mooney coming in to do "inks", which really was more along the lines of "intense finishes + inks".

ADV 346

My first Legion comic EVER!! I didn't know artists from writers or even think about it. I saw a cool cover. I saw one character I recognized. I thought I was going to read a story about Superboy.

I really can't remember tons. I can only say that when I picked this up the other day, I looked at the cover and had the exact same reaction. My widdle heart skipped a beat. lol

I remember the fight between KK and Superboy and believing it. I remember the Princess woke up my wee-wee. I was a man. lol. NK didn't register much with me but Ferro Lad immediately became the character I wanted to know about.

Hindsight

What the hell happened to the art and what's with all this decompression. There's only 4 panels on a page and they're full of air. In the old days they would have put that whole comic into 16 pages and gave me another story to boot. That HAS to be the only time Pres. Johnson ever got through a complete sentence without using the "f" word. Holy cow, what is DC doing. They'll never survive at this rate.

I guess the major controversy from this issue is KK. Legion material or not? My opinion on the first read was that it was cool a regular guy could take on Superboy, even if Superboy had to hang back. After hearing of the controversial opinions, I decided I like the idea that a regular human could possibly train to superhero levels. I don't believe it denigrates those that got their powers by incident. I believe it humanizes them. Make them attainable. To each their own.

Takes a HUGE leap to think someone really, really good with Karate could be in the same building as people that can move mountains but I say it means everyone has a contribution.

Archives 5's contents pages credit Shooter with "writer, layouts" (as it does in all four Shooter issues) and Sheldon Moldoff with "finished art". That's exactly how it credits George Papp in 348. However, in 347 and 349, Swan is credited as "penciller" and Klein as "inker" despite Shooter still having the "layouts" credit.

It sounds as if Moldoff and Papp actually worked directly over Shooter's roughs while Swan and Klein used his layouts as a guide...like how writers like Moore and Morrison do thumbnails in many of their scripts, maybe?

It never made sense to me either, but it certainly isn't Swan's work. The contrast between 346 and Swan's gorgeous work in 347 is huge.

One thing that struck me about 346 is that since I've been a regular on this re-read project with the last story in Vol. 2, this is the first time new Legionnaires were introduced and inducted from then 'til this point. Yeah, there were villain induction stunts like Dynamo Boy, etc., and Dream Girl and Lone Wolf were introduced but didn't stick around. So basically we've gone a fairly long time without new Legionnaires. Now, suddenly, we have FOUR!

In my (obviously misremembered) recollection, it seemed like we got a new Legionnaire every few issues in the era. Now, I can see the line-up for the first half of the Silver Age was basically all set after Ayla joined in 308--so 38 issues and over three years without a new recurring Legionnaire!

And as Cobalt underlines, these four have such a mystique about them, even as one is revealed as a traitor next issue and another will die in a few short issues. That leaves us with a net of 2 long-termers out of this group, but all four are such significant parts of Legion lore that this feels like one of the most important issues in LSH history!

I read in an old interview somewhere that Shooter actually did the layouts for his early Legion stories, with Mort's regular artists doing finishes. Of course Mort wasn't about to give him credit for this, as it would have meant paying him for both story and art. Then again, Mort never put credits on a story anyway.

Oh No!! Who's going to die?

Wait no, don't spoil it.

er...then you might want to avoid Cobie's future-spoiler-filled review a coupla pages ago!

You know, I read ahead to the George Papp issue (Dr. Regulus), reviewed it, and the whole time I was just pleasantly enjoying Papp's artwork (as I'm a fan). There is nothing in there that indicates Shooter did the layouts, though I'm sure my focus was on how Papp draws faces, which is a very distinct "50's DC meets 60's Archie" type style. Maybe I'll relook and see if I notice any differences to the Papp Superboy stories I've been rereading.

In The Legion Companion interview with Shooter, he explains that Mort bought this story because it was submitted with layouts, which indicated to Mort that Shooter was a visual thinker.

When Moldoff drew the story (Shooter doesn't say if he worked over the layouts or just used them as reference), Karate Kid was drawn as an American, although Shooter had depicted him as half-Asian. Also, Shooter wanted Ferro Lad to be black - and both racial varieties were rejected as not conforming to "the rules".

Shooter also mentions that this was his second submission to DC; he had submitted another two-part Legion story before this, which Mort bought later - but Shooter doesn't say which story it was, or if it was even published.

Funny, Karate Kid always looked at least half-Asian to me in those old Adventure stories. Maybe Shooter managed to have the art tweaked later on.

So Shooter wanted Ferro Lad to be black. I wonder if that was before or after he decided to let Ferro Lad go out as a hero in the Sun Eater story?

You ever walking down the street and someone you vaguely recognize shouts "hello" at you, you shout back then realize they were shouting to someone behind you?

Yeah, take THAT Nemesis Kid!

Adventure #347

Following up on all of the great aspects that played into part 1, Part 2 of Shooter's debut story does not let down in the slightest, and delivers a fantastic second half. The sense that this was a new era of the Legion is really presented in full as one Legionnaire is a traitor, new people and things are here to stay, and life is more complicated than ever.

There isn't as much to say in a general sense so I'll get to specifics:

- this has to be the first story in forever where Saturn Girl or Brainiac 5 (and to a lesser extent Sun Boy, though not really anymore) aren't a lead. Lightning Lad still is, but not as overt as usual.

- I always enjoy Tinya and Cos working together, which has happened several times throughout the series history.

- the immediacy of the problem erupting them mid-meeting is exactly the type of thing one refers to with "Marvel influence on DC".

- great action sequence mid issue with the Legionnaires strutting their stuff. Mort wanted Shooter to do more of that, and Shooter delivered in spades every issue.

- It's fascinating that Shooter uses the by-now-old-hat trope of "Legionnaire being suspected of being a traitor", yet it feels so different. Certainly it's because one of the Legionnaires does indeed become a traitor, just not who they think it'll be. But more than that, I think it's because there's a more vocal / action-oriented sense of melodrama that is creating a different kind of tension than the cold, icey Cold War tension of prior stories.

- the one major misstep is part 2 opens with Val accused but then Nemesis Kid coming clean by accident. This could have been a bit more dramatic I think, as up until now "the real spy" was such a great mystery. Meanwhile poor Val feels like a jerk for nothing.

- the action gets really heavy thereafter and each Legionnaire gets to be featured in what is probably the best action sequence so far!

- Ferro Lad especially shines as we get a rare glimpse into his personalty: daredevil, unsure of him self, gallows humor, and willing to risk it all anyway. I want more Ferro Lad scenes!

- at last Val gets a chance to prove himself and its really well done! And then Shooter and his artists (whoever is doing what here) make an interesting and dramatic choice on how to end the scene, with him in peril, only for the next scene to show him victorious. We haven't seen many scenes done like this in the Legion before.

- Nemesis Kid escapes to plague the LSH again, but they make us wait over 2 years for it!

All in all, despite one misstep, this story is a classic and gets better and better with subsequent rereads IMO. I enjoyed it immensely.

Bonus Lettercol Review: a letter from Ben Harlow of Battle Creek, Mich stands out, since Ben was actually a Superman reader during the 40's! He's actually dipped into his son's collection to see what's changed and found that (A) he doesn't recognize most of the characters like Lana, the Legion or even Superman's adventures as a boy and (B) he thinks the quality of stories is better than ever! I find it fascinating and awesome that in 1966 we're seeing multi-generations of Superman fans in families. Very cool!

And then, Mort off-handily confirms the membership of the Legion Espionage Squad: Cham, Lyle, Vi, Imra and Tinya. He promises a story about the group soon.

Bonus Elsewhere-in-the-DCU Review: In Action Comics, young Jim Shooter also takes over Superman, and creates the Parasite, so Supes can have someone he can actually go toe-to-toe with who isn't a Kryptonian. And that's another job well done!

Adv. 347 is one of my favorite Adventures. Love the art, love the story, love the new members, love the hovercraft thingies. Loved the bit about Garth being concerned for his sister. Found it a bit of a stretch that the great detective Legionnaires failed to detect that TWO of their new members were missing, but I can live with that.

I can live with that too, for as Cobie mentioned they were in the middle of action. They may also have been a bit too biased to notice that Nemesis Kid was likewise missing.

Some great action scenes with the Legionnaires fighting the invaders. Projectra's illusions and Light Lass' anti-gravity powers are both used to great effect, and there's none of the "this war is too dangerous for a GIRL" nonsense here.

Adv. 346

My reviews may be sporadic for awhile, but I did want to touch base on this important transitional issue.

Reading Jim Shooter's inaugural Legion story after Ed Hamilton's final one is almost like reading an entirely different comic. This story definitely reads like it was written by a teenaged writer: the dialogue uses common expressions, even cliches, such a "Let's get this show on the road" instead of hip lingo. The Legionnaires spar and argue with each other. They strain to save lives. And the action scenes are, well, full of action. Whereas Hamilton had the technique to write comics and Siegel had the passion, Shooter is somewhere in between. Some have said he was influenced by Marvel, and this may be true. But I also think he had a natural story telling ability which is evident here.

But, as with any novice writer, there are drawbacks in the story. Part 1 is taken up entirely by the introduction of four new Legionnaires. While Shooter makes the most of the space he's alotted (which, oddly, is the entire issue), Part 1 ends on a somewhat anticlimactic note. Yeah, so Karate Kid gets into the Legion. That's nice. It would have been nicer if the cover hadn't forecasted his membership and if the drama of his tryout had been built up a little more. None of the Legionnaires actually reject Karate Kid or say they doubt he can make it. We have only KK's dialogue that the Legionnaires look as if they doubt him to go by.

But KK’s fight with Superboy is well played. It establishes him as a hero who fights for what he wants. It is also perhaps the first prolonged and choreographed fight scene in the Legion series so far.

In Part 2, things kick into high gear. An alien invasion is pending, and the team separates into smaller teams to protect earth’s defensive electro-towers. From a science fictional perspective, this part feels like a letdown after the wildly imaginative (and often implausible) technology of the Hamilton era—these devices simply don’t seem futuristic. From a story telling perspective, though, Shooter does a marvelous job (heh) of building tension. For me, the best part is the argument between Cosmic Boy and Phantom Girl over KK’s suspected role in the destruction of one of the towers. PG is not being bitchy; she has a legitimate suspicion.

Also in Part 2, the action is front and center as it has been in no previous Legion story. There’s an explosion at the bottom of Page 16, followed by Phantom Girl investigating a space craft; the spacecraft explodes, and the shock waves render her unconscious. (Would shock waves do that to a phantom? Oh, never mind.) Cos rescues her and repels metal debris from the ship. Then the tower is destroyed—all of this happening very quickly. It’s the most exercise the Legionnaires have gotten yet.

The art is very rough in spots (Garlak’s stereotyped face and wooden expression being one egregious example), so I imagine Shooter’s layouts were very detailed. Moldoff seems to have simply drawn over the existing lines rather than try to “fix” anything. But the art is still an impressive feat for a 13-year-old, particularly since Shooter experiments with two-panel and four-panel pages, something his elder colleagues at DC wouldn’t think of doing.

“One of Us is a Traitor” remains an impressive achievement for someone of Shooter’s youth. And even though the story telling is not as tight as it should have been, it holds up extremely well, moreso than many other “classic” Adventure Legion stories. Grade: 90.3 (A-)

On the whole, this two-parter was pretty good storytelling! It's obviously significant for the characters and alien race introduced and for being Shooter's first story, but it's hard to find any gaping flaws as some of the Hamilton and Siegel stories had.

I'd say that maybe the story isn't all that compelling, I suppose. For the most part it's fairly by the numbers. I'd certainly, for example, have rather Nemesis Kid's reveal hadn't been done so casually and unimaginatively. Plus, it would have been nicer for Projectra and Ferro Lad to have been more integral to the story (though both had a good scene or two). And the defense towers were kind of...juvenile? Well, considering Shooter was a juvenile at the time, I can let him slide. Certainly, sillier things had been come up with for the title by writers much more his senior, right?

But it was a sound story with plenty of action and more characterization than the average Legion story had contained to this point. Best of all, Shooter immediately added to Legion lore and would add sooooo much more before he was finished!

Adv. 347

I find myself agreeing with Lardy’s description of this two-parter as “by the numbers.” Part two, like part one, contains solid storytelling and exciting moments, but the “grand ideas” of Hamilton or even Siegel are absent. Instead, Shooter clearly reveals his Marvel influence by playing up drama for drama’s sake, even if characters occasionally look stupid in the process (such as the missile men firing upon Superboy without identifying him first). Why do the Legionnaires need flying platforms to engage the enemy? Clearly not all of their flight rings were damaged. Earlier in the story, the Legionnaires burst into a room and apologize because they didn’t have “time to unfasten the locks!” C’mon, Jim. It just looks dramatic to have the heroes crash through a door.

Yet I generally didn't mind such blunders because I found myself getting so caught up in the Legionnaires’ interactions and the action. The suspicion on Karate Kid is magnified when he flies apart from the other Legionnaires. Cosmic Boy expresses impatience with Superboy’s delay in arriving at the Ceylon tower (a nice reversal of Superboy scolding Cos for being late last issue). The Legionnaires kick ass in battle. Then they kick ass again, though there’s some repetition with Cham and Light Lass doing the same tricks twice. (Cham even calls attention to his repeat performance.)

Best of all, the new kids get to shine. Projectra’s spotlight is brief, but Ferro Lad and Karate Kid both charge into action and use humor to win the hearts of readers. (Ferro Lad: “I wonder what happens if this doesn’t work?” Karate Kid: “If I miss, I promise never to do this again!”) And KK, once suspected of being a traitor, saves the day by capturing Garlak.

All in all, a satisfying finale. I don’t mind the silliness of Nemesis Kid revealing himself as a traitor. I’m used to stories of crooks doing stupid things. Besides, Shooter plays fair with the reader: Nemesis Kid, like KK, is absent from the group shot of the Legionnaires at the bottom of Page 10, and, if readers notice it, fine. If they (like the Legionnaires) don’t, so much the better. Shooter even works in a valuable lesson about not letting prejudice blind oneself to reality.

My biggest complaint is that the ending is rushed with Nemesis Kid disappearing and Superboy (or whoever’s speaking) conveniently guessing what must have happened. I would rather have been shown instead of told what was happening.

Though a more experienced writer might not have gotten away with a “by the numbers” approach, Shooter makes up for it by treating the Legionnaires as real kids and keeping the story moving with healthy doses of action and mystery—an impressive achievement whatever his age. It’s no surprise that 347 ends up with the same grade as 346: 90.3 (A-).

Something else else about you mentioning that ending with Nemesis Kid reminded me of a thought that recurred in my mind throughout this 2-parter: the vagueness of Nemesis Kid's powers! I can't say that I've ever really understood them and how alchemy would have explained them, but what little we see of it here isn't illuminating.

He uses his powers over the two issues exactly 3 times: to create a lead wall to protect himself from a nuclear blast, to transform himself into "neutronium" in order to sap the robot's power system and to teleport spontaneously when faced with multiple foes.

The first two seem like he basically has the same powers (or some permutation) as Element Lad. That's a kind of alchemy. And I suppose you can explain his teleportation with alchemy as well. But later appearances would show him adapting to fighting styles and some such. And then there's the later Duo Damsel incident in the LSV story--why didn't he just teleport again?

I dunno, I guess it just goes to show again how vague power sets can be written inconsistently and confusingly. To me, NK's powers are potentially so fascinating, that it's kind of a shame that we never saw them explored the way they could have been had one of the others turned out to be the traitor instead. (Though I'd be hard-pressed to choose which one, taking into account the different kinds of immortality in Legion lore all three achieved.) I guess that's one thing I liked about him being used in the animated series and possibly never being made a traitor had the series continued.

It could be that Nemesis Kid used some kind of device to teleport. Whoever's speaking might have been wrong in guessing he had the power.

But you're right: the ability to defeat any opponent is hopelessly vague. It makes me wonder if Shooter didn't bother to create a more specific power because he knew NK was going to be the bad guy. Also, the ability to defeat any single opponent would sound pretty cool to a 13-year-old.

In a way, this power makes Nemesis Kid similar to Duplicate Boy, who can also do anything the story requires him to do. Perhaps that's why we saw very little of either.

Interestingly, in the animated series, he was depicted as simply having the power to nullify the powers of his opponent. Though irrelevant to a discussion of the original version's powers, it does show that the producer's wanted a more specific power in their version.

I think Nemesis Kid would be slightly more difficult to use than Duplicate Boy in a story. Dupe has control over what powers he copies, so writing him as a dumb and uncreative guy or having him be taken by surprise can allow you to tone down his power. Nemesis Kid, on the other hand, has vague and unpredictable powers that he has no control over. Using him properly would require the crafting of a very specific set of "rules" for how his powers work.

Nemesis Kid's vague power set makes him "too powerful for a hero" -- which also would have been true of Duplicate Boy, had he not had the significant weakness that he was dumb as a rock.

(Heroes need to face and overcome significant challenges in a story, otherwise there is no story. Villains merely need to create those challenges. That is why it is humorous to think of Young Darkseid as a Legionnaire. (or Young Mordru or Young Time Trapper))

Adventure #348

Jim Shooter continues to bring more changes to the Legion with his second story , and this heightens the impact he's already made over the last two issues. Here he begins the incredibly strong effort to build a true rogues gallery for the Legion, to mirror Supes, Bats, Flash and DC's competitors at the House of Ideas. Dr. Regulus is the result and IMO he's a very strong effort: powerful, intelligent, a direct hate / problem with a specific Legionnaire, and most of all, he has all the melodrama, personality and action-oriented nature that the great villains of the Silver Age had.

This issue also marks the start of Invisible Kid as Legion leader. Mort / Bridwell hinted at this in the Lettercol a few issues earlier, that a lesser seen Legionnaire would get the big role. I'm curious as to whose idea it actually is. Regardless, it marks the real high point in the preboot existence of Lyle Norg, culminating in a few issues when he socks Jo in the kisser. He ends up coming across as one the strongest and greatest leaders in the Legion's history. His being such a less obvious choice as leader further help differentiate Shooter's run from what's come before.

One other tidbit introduced by Shooter is Luornu's crush on Superboy. I admit I had long forgotten or never realized this came so late in Legion history! Readers had been asking for a long time about why Luornu didn't have a boy she liked when all the other girls did. Here, Shooter makes an interesting choice by making it tragic and unlikely; there's no easy out on this one, only heartbreak. For a 14 year old kid that is quite a mature decision; yet, who other than an actual teenager is all too aware that so many crushes / romantic wishes go unfulfilled and unreturned?

This issue stands out as George Papp, longtime Superboy artist, gets a turn doing the Legion (though apparently over rough Shooter layouts). I'm a big fan of Papp's work, and enjoy it actually more than Swan. I think he really does a terrific job here, and I love the slightly more cartoonish depiction of the Legionnaires. He also draws Sun Boy and Duo Damsel with hairstyles that seem more fun and modern for the mid-60's which I like.

The story itself, by its title, is obviously inspired by Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None", which in turn was inspired by the poem "10 Little Indians". I've read Christie's work and its quite brilliant. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes clever writing. It was such a phenomenal hit that its inspired numerous adaptions for books, comics, movies, tv shows, etc. Its become a regular recurring plot structure formula.

The opening of the story shows the election process, and while we don't know who voted for who, it's a nice touch that Luornu votes for her crush, while Tinya votes for Lyle--as one can use later knowledge to infer she voted for her frequent espionage squad colleague.

From an election to a charity event, I like seeing the Legion doing things other than fighting bad guys. Great to get both in one issue.

The sequences with an amnesiac Dirk on the run really highlight some of Papp's strengths. He was always great at making you believe "a good kid was in a tough spot" just by his line work alone.

The second half of the story does a great job showcasing action and building tension. The pacing is spot on.

The very end gives us a resolution, followed by an explanation of what we didn't know. By now this was the classic formula used by all writers in the Superman family, and Shooter adopts it. However, that won't last and I'm glad, as this formula is outdated and stagnant by now. It's really not even necessary if its only going to be stuck at the end. As the Legion changes, and comics do in general, seeing things like this refined will be enjoyable.

There's not much in plot going on in this issue that causes any one character to undergo a great change or experience. But I do like that there is a balance between the whole team, and on main character, Sun Boy.

Shooter continues to use Sun Boy often early in his run. I suspect he was influenced by the earlier prolific period for Sun Boy. Dirk is used very well here. He's probably emerged as my favorite Legionnaire who wasn't already a favorite before.

ADV 348

Things Learned: keep with you at ALL times the following items.
- broken piece of china for uncovering precious stones.
- nuclear reactor, great for healing amnesia.
- martini glass for gloating. hmmmmmm
- sword for stabbing desk items when angry.

Art: this stuff is just BRILLIANT
- the fight between Colossal Boy and the "giant" robot would have looked like two regular guys fighting, if not for that little teeny couch that Regulus JUST HAPPENED to put in that room.
- When Regulus is in his spaceship, he's not depicted posing for effect. He's doing stuff. Drinking, stabbing, measuring.
- The scene at the missing HQ site and the scene on Regulus' monitor are perfectly consistent.


Questions
- Did we ever hear again of poor Zarl Hedricks?
- What's with the down arrow on Regulus' helmet? That mean anything?
- Why would Vi consider the name "Regulus" creepy?
- Lois Lane dated Alfred E Neuman?
- I wonder if the guy who suggested the hero name "Blockade Boy" or the guy in this issue who said it was his favorite of the killed characters, is that "other" Blockade Boy that was mentioned as having a web-site?


Observations
- My first thread post on "metacogitating," I wondered if these books wouldn't be just too dated for me to enjoy. Hasn't happened but this one probably would have fit the bill except I find myself devolving when I read, like I'm a little kid reading this with all the wonder I had then. Bizarre.
- From my childhood reading I really only recalled the charity event and the fight between Colossal Boy and the giant robot.
- BOOM!, Ba-Rooom!!, WHAM!, R.Rip! I love this shit!
- I could spend all day looking at the ads and solicits.
- As I've gone through the recent re-reads, I've noticed a couple of the solicits for "Our Fighting Forces," were already about the "Vietnam" War and were also timely, reflecting the news coming back to us. It would seem at one time that the country was quite on board with that war and then perhaps later turned their backs and tried to forget, forgetting that there were real people coming back to us from there. History is interesting.

I remember 348 as one of the earlier Legion reprints I read in one of those great digests that supplemented my discovery of the Levitz/Giffen Legion. If I'm not mistaken, this story may have even been reprinted to accompany the appearance of Regulus in LSH #286.*** In any case I read those two stories in very close proximity to one another, so Sun Boy, Regulus and their rivalry really made quite an early impression on me!

Here's the digest I owned that reprinted the story (also featuring the Inferior Five! ), btw:




As I began reading, the "Ten Little Indians" bit came back to me and gave me a smile. I chuckled later at Regulus holding a wine glass on-panel, something I hadn't remembered. (How the hell was he supposed to drink it with his helmet on, anyway?!?!) Somehow, I think teenaged Shooter must have thought that having an adult appear with a wine glass must have made him look more sinister!

Anyhow, there were things remembered and mis-remembered, but it was nice to connect with my own early Legion fandom and fascination with Sun Buy and Regulus. The story holds up pretty well, even with some leaps, like the buildings Regulus removed holding together and Dirk just happening to wonder into a nuclear plant. (And shouldn't the building have plummeted, if not the whole ship, when everything went dark?)

I also remember this was the first memorable appearance of Lyle Norg I had ever read. Having come aboard in the 280s, Lyle was already long dead. I was starting to realize the depth of the Legion's history, who had already had several members die over the years. So around the same time I was meeting Jacques, the new Invisible Kid, I was learning that the old Invisible Kid had died, and I got to read a story in which he was actually elected leader! That impressed me and stoked my interest in the Legion that much more. I was genuinely interested in Lyle, Ferro Lad, Chemical King and somewhat in Duo Damsel who had lost one of her bodies over the years. So in a way, you can say this story was one of the big pieces that helped me become a lifelong Legion fan.

Good job, Shooter....and GREAT job, '80s DC, for publishing so many great early Legion stories over several digests with just PERFECT timing for this 11-12 year old comics fan!

***A subsequent search shows 286 and the digest were published three months apart.

Adv. 348

A personal reflection: This was one of the first Legion comics I bought after I discovered such a thing as a comic book shop existed in Kansas City, sixty miles from where I lived. Until then, I didn’t know there was a regular place to buy back issues. I had to have this one because I’d seen the cover in the Legion Handbook. It is a very dramatic cover, with poor Invisible Kid being fried and Dr. Regulus sticking pins in Legion dolls. And, oh yes, that title: “Target—21 Legionnaires.” Short and to the point. (Yet misleading since only eight Legionnaires appear in the story.)

For many years this was one of my favorite Legion stories because it focused on two of my favorite Legionnaires, Sun Boy and Invisible Kid. It also introduces Dr. Regulus, who looks awesome in that arrowed helmet and is so audacious he steals the Legion’s clubhouse!

Yet even then I felt the story was a bit off somehow, that if fell short of my lofty expectations.

Before I get to those shortcomings, let’s talk about the story’s considerable strengths. If a reader knew nothing about the Legion, “Target” provides a good introduction by showing Superboy fly into the future to attend a Legion meeting. Then we get a sweet scene revealing Duo Damsel’s crush on Superboy, and the leadership election gets underway. Invisible Kid, the winner, acts decisively throughout the rest of the story (the most hands-on leader we’ve seen yet). The Legionnaires show off their powers during a charity event. All of this gives the reader a clear sense of who these characters are and why we should care about them.

Then what story analysts call the inciting incident happens. The Legion clubhouse is stolen and, in the process, Sun Boy gets amnesia and flies off. Showing how decisive he can be, Invisible Kid turns the search for his missing teammate over to the Science Police while the rest of the Legionnaires investigate their missing clubhouse. We have an interlude where we meet the villain, Dr. Regulus, who is so maniacal he stabs a globe with a sword (!) and drinks martinis (the drink of villains and globe-trotting Legion Worlders). Meanwhile, Sun Boy wanders into a nuclear power plant and falls asleep in front of an atomic reactor. So far, the build up is good.

But once the Legionnaires track down Dr. Regulus and enter his ship, things go awry. The concept here is good, but it relies too heavily on coincidence to be wholly believable. What if, for example, Colossal Boy had picked a different room to investigate other than the giant-sized one with a giant robot waiting for him? What if Cosmic Boy hadn’t leaned against that particular wall—or any wall? What if Sun Boy had picked some other place to take a nap—a place without atomic radiation to restore his memories?

In short, the story works because the Legionnaires do exactly what the plot requires them to do. Cobie mentioned that none of the characters grow in this story. An even worse problem is that the story doesn’t spring from the characters and their actions and reactions. Instead, the characters are manipulated puppet-like through the plot.

It’s a damn good thing, for example, that Sun Boy arrived when he did, that Cosmic Boy was able to save Dirk just in time, and that Sun Boy melted the master control panel yet missed Regulus when the latter got away. And it's fortunate for the Legionnaires that Regulus had timed his ship's self-destruct mechanism to go off after they were well clear of it.

This is where I feel Shooter could have used some adult guidance from Mort or Bridwell, who should have checked for some level of plausibility in all this. But Mort doesn’t seem to have been too concerned with logic in any of these stories.

“Target—21 Legionnaires” remains an exciting story, but only if one suspends a lot of disbelief. Grade: 82.3 (B-).

And don't forget how Dr. Regulus somehow anticipated that Sun Boy would get knocked out and have amnesia as a result of the quake caused by his theft of Legion HQ!

I think I give the fallacies in this story a pass because of my fondness for this particular story as referenced above. The title also is illogical given the number of Legionnaires involved, as you state.

Dr. Regulus indicates he had caused Dirk's amnesia. How he accomplished this is not revealed. Perhaps he borrowed the Luck Lords' super-hypnotic long-range ray.

When Cosmic Boy got caught in HIS trap, I remember thinking - boy, it sure was lucky of Regulus that Cos decided to stand in that exact place at that time!

Adventure #349

Jim Shooter's creative explosion continues with Universo, yet another classic Legion villain. Once again, Shooter has found the right mix to create a villain that will recur over time, and also stand out as unique among the Legion's enemies and villains in general.

He also introduces Rond Vidar, whom I've always loved as a character. Most of that love comes from later developments--specifically his great friendship with Brainy--but the idea of "a regular person doing the right thing when it's difficult" is here. His next appearance will present--in addition to his actual name--the idea of another "ordinary" person getting honorary Legion membership, which I've always liked.

This story has a unique line-up that stars both Colossal Boy, Cham and Shrinking Violet in addition to regular stars Imra, Brainy and Superboy.

Universo certainly has a unique way of entering the story! I kind of like his plans not going as he planned and his having to make up the whole "joining bit" on the fly. It makes him seem a little bumbling but its certainly interesting. Even his super-hypnosis is overcome by Brainy early on. This is certainly against the grain of the usual 'villain overpowers Legion, then they overcome him through courage and ingenuity' plotting.

The whole middle of the story involves time traveling to various locales which I don't mind at all! We haven't seen the Legion time travel this much since very early Adventure, and I've come to enjoy that aspect of the series, which was really lost after the Silver Age.

The Incan Empire is a woefully underused setting in comics.

Vi attacked by a falcon--a classic Atom bit used for her!

Gim is confronted with a common, albeit classic, conundrum of being able to escape but in doing so endangering countless lives.

Imra's problem is more amusing, though not really worthy of her awesomeness. Imra in a maid outfit with Napoleon could certainly be its own story, though!

And Brainy has a pretty cool adventure with Kublai Khan and a mechanical dragon! This is probably the best sequence of the issue.

The wrap up showcases Rond though we don't ever get his actual name! I've always found that odd, and chalked it up to a young writer.

All in all, a fun little story. Not the most happening, but an enjoyable read.

Bonus Lettercol Review: Mort / Nelson formally introduces young 14 year old Jim Shooter, and mentions that much like Rond Vidar, he was a science fair winner. Hm. I suspect Vidar may be a Shooter Mary-Sue in this story.

I like that each of the Legionnaires were able to show their ingenuity and grace under fire despite being in deadly peril. Brainy, for instance, getting his belt activated by a punch.

I suppose Violet's ability to shrink down to microscopic size still isn't evident by now. Her limit here seems to be a few inches tall only. Certainly limits her versatility.

I liked this issue a lot BUT (everybody I know has a big but) i found it a little (okay a lot) repetitious that EACH Legionnaire evaded one deadly peril only to land smack dab in the middle of another one (out of the frying pan . . . ). Also found it annoying that Superboy even had to be included, just so he could be written out with a very looonnnggg bit of exposition from Vi. At least the art was great, EXCEPT for on the last page when Cham is shown removing a mask and costume to reveal his disguise! Hello? His power is "super-disguise"! He don't need no stinkin' mask, Curt Swan! I do like the intro of Rond Vidar though, even if they did forget to give him a name. Also, the Legion has apparently adopted his time cube (and hopefully worked out the bugs) by the very next issue, which also features Vi becoming microscopic (for the very first time?)!

More thoughts: I suppose since we're dealing with time travel, Rond could've spent the next month working out the bugs of his time machine and still arrived just in the nick of TIME to save the heroes, but why would he wait until their lives were each endangered a SECOND time to come to the rescue? Did he not think each of their first predicaments were dire enough? Was he testing them (shades of the Timetrapper)? Did he have to run to the space potty at inopportune times?

Re-reading this story (for the umpteenth time), I'm not sure what I find so captivating about it, but it's one of my favourites.

A new machine for time travel, the Legionnaires going to different periods besides Superboy's time, evidence that they're not the only amazing teens in the 30th century, Superboy mostly out of the story (although as pointed out, why have him there at all?), some attention on Cham, Vi and Gim and Universo. What a great villain!

I thought Dr. Regulus was sort of boring with his helmet and insane, revenge-driven plan. Universo seems so much more devious; he's developed a complicated plot to ensnare the Legionnaires. He also looks unusual, compared to previous Legion adversaries: the monocle, goatee, bald head, medallion and he's barefoot.

What clinches the story for me, however, is the surprise ending. I don't think there are any clues in the story, so it would have been a big reveal. Unnamed Vidar kid, betraying his father but obviously feeling awful about it. Dad just went too far this time.

At the end, I just wonder where young Vidar goes from here. Is there a Mom or relative somewhere? Is he old enough to be on his own, by 30th century standards? He looks so forlorn, sitting there alone. It has quite an impact. I like to think that some of the Legionnaires sought him out and helped him, maybe with the assistance of R.J. Brande (who doesn't exist yet).

ADV 349

Twizzlers, Milk, Tigers on WJR: yep, yep, yep time to read.

Before opening this I couldn't have told you a bit about what was going to happened. Wow, I remembered almost ALL of these panels.

I wish today's books were laid out like this, with some random one page comic in the middle and ads for toys you just have to have.

Batman movie! Space Ghost, The Impossibles, hell yeah! I got to get to Egypt and I can complete the set.

I've noticed that different issues have "aged" differently, different smells. This one, is a Dom Perignon.


Time machine? No way, I'm putting my money into that digital computer thingy.

Colossal Boy: just STEP AROUND IT!!!

This is up there with "Luke I am your father." How is this not DC legend? And unless I missed it (again and again) they never even gave Rond a name? When did he get a name?[b][/b]

I REALLY enjoyed this. No wonder I became such a fan.

I've seen some amazing (to me) scientists that had absolutely no clue about logistics. It's hard to know what experience Shooter had at 14, to bring to his stories but re-reading this, it is amazing to me.



There's a great filler story in there. There must be something about the business, that they do not try to go back to old runs (you know, when there were like half a billion readers), write missing stories, put an ad on the game of the week and watch the old fans come running.

Curt Swan draws really GREAT feet! (Too bad Rob Liefeld didn't learn from him... )

And damn! We've polished off yet another Archive! Fewer stories this go-round, but the one's we're getting are longer.

Adv. 349

One distinct advantage of the Legion having a teenaged writer is that Shooter incorporated subjects he must have been studying in school. In this issue, for example, we’re treated to an extended history lecture that involves Kublai Khan, Napoleon, warring Britons (who look more like they belong in the Crusades some five hundred years later), and ancient Egypt. Kudos to Jim and Mort for trying in a subtle way to educate their readers. Stories such as this probably “legitimized” boring school subjects for kids as later stories did for me.

However, “The Rogue Legionnaire” suffers from the same problems that have dogged Shooter’s other stories so far. He simply lacks the maturity as a writer and as a human being to pull off the grandiose ideas he so easily generates.

First, the title of the story is misleading since Universo doesn’t actually join the Legion. His attempt to brainwash the Legion into admitting him is a clever bit of off-the-cuff thinking on his part, but nothing comes of it. Rather, the title, like Superboy’s presence on the cover and in the early part of the story, is meant to entice the reader by promising things the story doesn’t deliver. Jim, it seems, has been learning the wrong lessons from Mort.

Second, as others have pointed out, the episodes in the past follow a particular pattern that gets old very quickly. Some of the historical adventures are fun (Cham’s impersonation of the Inca being one); however, like last issue, they rely on characters doing things that are just a little too hard to accept in order to further the plot. Brainy’s lucky, for example, that the Chinese guard punched him in the belt instead of breaking his ribs. And it’s mighty convenient that a spear relieves Brainy of his force field belt when he needs it a few panels later.

For that matter, how many Legionnaires forgot to take their flight rings on this little adventure? Vi uses her ring, but Imra left hers behind while Cham and Gim make no mention of theirs, and Brainy’s was damaged (another convenient turn). You’d think flight rings would have been mandatory standard issue by now.

On the other hand, the plot works quite well if one doesn’t think too much about the convenience and repetition. In fact, “The Rogue Legionnaire” reminds me of the Star Trek episode, “All Our Yesterdays,” in which Kirk, Spock, and McCoy find themselves trapped in eras of a planet’s past. Perhaps “The Rogue Legionnaire” would have have worked better with fewer Legionnaires; the repetition and convenience would have been less obvious with fewer episodes.

As for Rond Vidar’s debut—I really like the way Swan depicts him in this story: a bit rotund, weak chin, pointy nose. He looks like a regular kid. It’s a pity this depiction wasn’t maintained in later appearances. The Legion could use more “regular guys” like Chuck.

And Rond is elevated from walk-on character to someone we care about at the end: a young man who betrayed his own father to save the Legion. That last forlorn image of him is quite powerful.

Speaking of the art, is Vi wearing a cape on Page 3, Panel 1? In the black and white Showcase reprint, it looks almost like Swan thought he was drawing Duo Damsel.

“The Rogue Legionnaire” has a lot of good ideas and some good storytelling (the Legionnaires unmasking themselves at the end is an effective reveal, whatever Cham’s motivation for wearing a disguise). But Shooter needed a firm, encouraging hand to guide him and reign him in. Mort’s abusive personality, as Shooter later described him, apparently didn’t do the trick.

Grade: 89.6 (A-)

Perhaps so, but it's hard to cite too many examples of Hamilton's writing that are executed with much more of an overtly 'mature' touch. I'd say the tone and content are mostly a match, with the addition of more interesting villains and somewhat more personality given to the Legionnaires.



This was a trope that was hardly unique to Shooter. In how many JLA stories did the team divide up into seperate missions, only to all end up captured or all end up in the same place, etc. Hardly a Shooter-unique problem.



Agreed! I did a rant on this a few Archives earlier when I pointed out and approved of Jan Arrah's early depiction as being slightly cherub-like with some baby fat in appearance compared to the other Legionnaires. This is a perfectly normal body type for teenagers who are later "bloomers" than others.

However, another poster on the Archives 6 thread gave Swan props for bringing subtly different body types to the Legionnaires. It's subtle, but at least everyone's not identical. Forte always did a good job with distinctive hair. Swan takes it somewhat further with posture, musculature and how clothes hang on people.

On a somewhat related note, as I mentioned earlier, the scene with Vi being small while the Egyptians stand confused in bare feet is notable. It's rare for feet to be depicted with such detail in the Silver Age, in my memory at least. He was a talented artist.



To me, this is the image that makes the issue. It's quiet but powerful. And very human. Shooter, at such a young age, had some skill beyond his years.

I hadn't thought to compare Shooter's level of maturity as a writer to that of Hamilton or anyone else's. Still, it's an interesting comparison. Hamilton, as an older and much more experienced writer, did bring a certain level of expertise to his stories, particularly from the 330s onwards. If anything, his ideas are much more focused and "reigned in" than Shooter's. Shooter, like many young writers, wants to throw in everything, including the Kitchen Sink (your apt description of 350-51 notwithstanding), and 349, with its trips back to multiple time periods, is a good example. This approach gives his stories a diffuse quality that's hard to control, hence the repetition of the Legionnaires getting into danger just before Rond yanks them back to the present.

It's hard to imagine Hamilton writing such a complicated plot, though his stories certainly had their weaknesses.

As for other writers dividing teams into smaller units, just because they did so does not make Shooter's approach any less repetitious. It's been years since I read Gardner Fox's JLA stories, so I can't say why they may have worked better than Shooter's or even if they did. Perhaps it's because Fox, like Hamilton, had many more years of living and writing behind him. Perhaps they don't hold up any better than Shooter's did.

Agree that Shooter had enormous skills as a writer even at this young age. For one, he makes the reader care about the characters far more than Hamilton or Siegel ever did.

All I can say is you folks are lucky to have this one. My daughter's collection is just missing 5 & 12, and both are crazy expensive even still. Keeping an eye out for a deal one day...

I'm doubly blessed, as I got to pick up most of the original issues while they were relatively inexpensive. (Most of the Adventure issues cost $3 or $3.50 when I was on the hunt for them in the early '80s.) Also, many of these stories were available as reprints.

What surprises me, though, is that we've been at this Archives re-read project for more than three and half years! Howzat for dedication?